Shanghai Officially Starts Waste Sorting: What Kind of Trash Is an E-cigarette?

Starting July 1, the long-awaited Shanghai Municipal Domestic Waste Management Regulations officially came into effect, and “Shanghai garbage sorting” quickly became a trending topic. According to the rules, mixed disposal of garbage can result in fines ranging from 50 to 200 yuan, while organizations that fail to sort waste as required can be fined up to 50,000 yuan. Household waste in Shanghai is divided into four categories: dry waste, wet waste, hazardous waste, and recyclables.
 
Many residential communities in Shanghai have arranged for staff and volunteers to guide and inspect waste sorting. Starting today, whenever you take out the trash, you may hear an auntie kindly ask: let me see what kind of garbage you are?

From now on, trash bins in residential communities will no longer be available 24 hours a day. They will have opening and closing hours, generally from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning and around 6:00 to 8:00 in the evening.

Standards for recyclables

Recyclable waste generally refers to items that still have reuse value, such as delivery boxes, empty beverage bottles, waste glass products, scrap metal, and some unwanted clothing. These reusable discarded items are considered recyclables.

Standards for hazardous waste

Hazardous waste refers to discarded items that are harmful, directly or indirectly, to human health or the natural environment. Examples include used batteries, medicines, paint, and discarded light tubes. Such waste belongs to the hazardous waste category.

Standards for wet waste

Wet waste generally refers to garbage that decomposes easily, such as leftover food, fruit peels, dead flowers and plants, residues from traditional Chinese medicine, and expired food. These belong to wet waste.

Standards for dry waste

Dry waste means all other waste. Anything that does not fall into the above three categories belongs to dry waste. If you are unable to determine whether an item belongs to one of the other three categories, you can place it in the dry waste bin. When disposing of it, try to drain off any excess liquid.

So here comes the question: e-cigarettes include disposable e-cigarettes and pod-based e-cigarettes. What kind of waste are they?

Disposable e-cigarettes are dry waste.

For pod-based e-cigarettes, the device body is made of aluminum and contains electronic components, so it can follow the recycling approach used for mobile phones and other electronic products. Used pods are made of plastic and are considered recyclable items. Half-used pods are classified as dry waste, similar to lighters (hard-to-identify household waste should be placed in the dry waste bin).

Although waste sorting is troublesome, it is beneficial for environmental protection. That’s all the editor can help you with for now.