Anji County, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, has innovated the waste classification model and established a complete chain for the recycling industry.

Starting in 2003, Anji County has experimented with garbage sorting in rural areas, where garbage was collected from door to door and then all processed together in the county.

187 villages in the county have classified household waste and 98.7 percent of that waste is turned into harmless substances or useful resources.

Residents in urban areas are required to divide their waste into residual waste and household food waste. While household food waste is transported to and burned in power plants, residual waste is collected and subdivided by a garbage sorting service provider introduced by the county and then delivered to downstream companies for further disposal.

Anji County has taken various measures to deal with different kinds of waste. Kitchen waste is turned into fertilizers and industrial waste will be processed by professional companies and even turned into resources for downstream enterprises.

By disposing of 80 tons of industrial waste on a daily basis, the Jiahong renewable energy company could make a net profit of 1.2 million yuan every month, according to a manager of the company.

The county has also provided a total of over 100 million yuan in subsidies to encourage various parties to actively classify and dispose of their waste. For example, for each ton of kitchen waste and other waste a power plant burns, it could receive a subsidy of 195 yuan and 100 yuan, respectively, with the financial aid reaching 34.3 million yuan every year.