You Can Now Be Fined for Throwing Leftover Food in Public Bins

By Urban Family, June 24, 2019

This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.

By Urban Family

In a fast-paced city like Shanghai, it’s common for residents to finish their breakfast on their way to work and throw leftovers into public trash bins. But starting July 1, throwing your leftovers into public trash cans is going to cost you. Anyone who is caught breaking the new rule will be fined RMB50-200 (USD7.30-29.30), reports Sina.

According to the imminent garbage sorting regulation, public trash bins can only receive residual waste and recyclable waste.

In other words, if you have a snack you can’t finish, you won’t be allowed to throw it into the bins located by the roadside or in Metro stations because food leftovers are counted as household food waste.

Image via NetEase

Meanwhile, if you have some coffee you don’t want to drink anymore, you won’t be able to get rid of it immediately, either. As the regulation states, cups and bottles have to be emptied before being thrown into garbage cans.

Any violation of the regulations could result in a fine. To avoid being punished, residents are suggested to bring food leftovers with them until they reach a place where a household food waste bin is available.

The goal of the new regulation is to create a cleaner environment. At the same time, it will also discourage people from eating on the Metro trains.

Image via The Paper

Despite the good intentions, a great number of netizens are less than thrilled about the new policy.

“Is it that hard to supply a third trash bin for household food waste?” asked one netizen.

“I think it is overcompensating,” commented another. “Why don’t they just close all the breakfast stands? Then there will be no food leftovers at all.”

The new garbage sorting regulation will come into full effect on July 1.

[Cover image via Pixabay]

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).