Middle school teacher Zheng Xin used to put all her trash in one basket, but now she sorts them into four different types.

There is one bin for kitchen waste such as vegetable peels and leftovers. Recyclables such as delivery boxes and plastic bottles go into another bin, miscellaneous trash like plastic wrapping and other odd ends go into a third bin, while the fourth is reserved for hazardous rubbish such as spent batteries. The sorted trash is then taken to communal bins.