Beijing aims to implement a waste classification system in 3,000 residential communities, which holds 50 percent of the permanent residents, in the next year, said a city official in charge of waste management as the capital faces a growing amount of waste.

Deng Jun, deputy director of Solid Waste Administration, said about 600 communities and 30 percent of government departments or institutions will be among the first group this year to classify waste before they are transported.

A lack of funds to build facilities is the main hindrance in the popularization of waste classification, Deng said.

This marks the fifth project in the capital city since 1996. Experts criticized previous efforts as "image-building" since it encouraged classification in the collection stage but not for transportation.

Unlike the previous efforts, this year's project has been assisted by a complete set of classification methods and facilities, said waste policy expert and government consultant Wang Weiping. "Rubbish will be separated during both collection and transportation processes."

Beijing currently generates 18,400 tons of garbage every day, when it can dispose of only 10,400 tons. Ninety percent of Beijing's urban garbage is disposed through sanitary landfill plants, 8 percent by composting and 2 percent through incineration, statistics showed.

(chinadaily.com.cn April 13, 2010)