The Social Challenges of Involving the General Publics in Garbage Separation and Recycling in Chinese Cities

Abstract:

Waste separation bins that are mainly categorized into recyclable and non-recyclable are being installed almost everywhere in China. It is notable that China is pushing hard to get the public involved in garbage separation and recycling. As an ethnographic research, this paper provides social and cultural explanations of why the roles of these newly designed bins are extremely limited. Explanation of such limitation is deeply concerned with, first, the beliefs and knowledge about recycling of the general publics, and more importantly, the history and hard-to-be-changed culture of informal recycling involving garbage pickers in China. As a foreign Chinese, the author has been running around Beijing and other cities in China to explore into the behind the scene Chinese informal garbage collection system. Using a series of informative social surveys, interviewing the public and personal observation, the paper illustrates and discusses the social challenges and current dilemmas China is facing in attempts to formalize its garbage separation and recycling. The aim of the paper is to address the importance of integrating the existing culture and knowledge of the people with the making of future environmental technologies and policies.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 878)
• Pages: 831-839
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.878.831
• Online since: January 2014
• Authors: Keng Hang Fan
• Keywords: Environmental Education, Ethnographic Research, Informal Recycling, Social Challenges

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