Shanghai is the first city to carry out strict regulations(规章) on rubbish sorting and recycling on July 1, 2019. Shanghai requires its residents(居民) to sort rubbish ________ four categories(类别), namely recyclable, ________, dry and wet waste. If people ________ to sort their rubbish properly, they can be fined up to 200 yuan.

Since the regulation took effect, the amount of total daily waste in Shanghai has been reduced by an average(平均) of 15,500 tons, dropping 26 percent from the end of 2018, ________ the average daily weight of recyclables hits 4,500 tons, five times higher than the end of 2018, according to the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau.

The city also ________ 21,000 waste-sorting stations and more than 40,000 waste bins have been dated(更新). The city’s waste collection and transportation system is complete, according to the bureau.

“Proper waste sorting protects the environment and saves natural resources,” said Deng Jianping, director of the bureau. “Led by the central government, Shanghai is making efforts to develop long-term ________ to rubbish management.”

However, there have also been some problems. Some people complained that it is difficult to ________ wet garbage, as they are asked to remove wet garbage from its bag when ________.

According to the sorting rules, the wet garbage must go in the wet waste bin and the bag must go in the dry-waste bin.

This separation is ________, as it ensures that the wet garbage will decompose(分解) properly and become useful organic(有机的) waste, the bureau said.

Plastic bags can affect this process. Some people in Shanghai are instead using paper bags that can biodegrade(生物降解) or plastic containers(容器) that can be ________ and reused according to Xinhua.

Ever since Shanghai started garbage sorting (垃圾分类), one problem has bothered Shi Yuan. When people throw away wet waste (________ food waste), they have to take the waste out of the bag. This is not easy to do.

Once, when Shi was throwing away wet waste, he got food waste all over his trousers. The ________ student from Shanghai Wenlai Middle School decided to do ________ about this.

He made a ________ garbage bag for wet waste. The bag has a band of adhesive tape (粘贴带). When one end of the tape is open, the bag can be turned upside-down (翻转). People can hold the ________ end and easily throw wet garbage into the trash can.

Shi had a hard time ________ the bag. He first used tape to help turn the bag over. But the tape was a one-off product (一次性产品). He then remembered how Post-it notes (便利贴) used weak glue (胶水). He tried weak glue for the tape. Now the tape can be ________. “I want my garbage bag to be environmentally-friendly,” Shi said.

Shi’s idea ________ him a prize in the Shanghai Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Contest. His bag was ________ a real product. He has sold over 2 million bags online. On May 4, he started selling his bag in 11 supermarkets in Shanghai.

“Like many ________ kids, I’m also busy with homework and I like to play. The only difference is that I like to observe (观察) life and find ways to make it easier,” Shi said.

Did you throw something away today? The answer for most people would be yes. But where does our _______ go?

It doesn’t just sit in the rubbish bin. Every day, _______ come to take the rubbish from our rubbish bins. They put it into a big truck and _______ it to landfills（垃圾填埋场）. At the landfill, people sort the rubbish. They recycle some, _______ some and bury some of it underground. The more rubbish gets recycled, the _______. It means that less rubbish ends up in landfills. Landfills can also be bad for the environment.

So many Chinese cities encourage everyone to sort out their rubbish _______ throwing it away. Put the food in one bag. Put the plastic bottles in _______. And throw them in the right rubbish bins. In this way, we can help _______ a lot of time, money and energy for all of society.

Many foreign _______ have good sorting systems. So they have higher recycling rates（比率）. In Sweden, only 4 percent of household waste ________ in landfills every year. In Japan, people recycle nearly 50 percent of all rubbish.

There is ________ a lot to do when it comes to rubbish sorting in China. People in the country make about 300 million tons of rubbish every year. ________ they only recycle less than a quarter of the waste. The ________ of it ends up in landfills. Most of it is unsorted. The good news is that many cities are trying different ways to make things better. Beijing will start a new program to ________ rubbish sorting next year. If people sort out their rubbish, they’ll ________ WeChat bonus points. They can exchange the bonus points for shopping cards!