The question of what to do with garbage is nothing new to the residents of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. To tackle the increasing amount of urban waste, the city introduced sorted trash bins more than 10 years ago. But that doesn't seem to have had much of an impact.

"Garbage collectors come here and dump all the trash in just one container. So I don't see the point in sorting trash."

Many have attributed the failure to a lack of adequate education and accountability.

So the city is now aiming to tackle the problem on both fronts. One step will be to make educational materials a ubiquitous sight in residence complexes. And now a real-name policy will track down and fine those who refuse to sort their waste. Residents have expressed worries about privacy, but the government says that won't be an issue.

Bao Lunjun, chief engineer of Guangzhou City Administrative Commission, said, "There will be marks on the garbage bags to identify the owners. But their names and addresses won't be shown."

And although the "volume-based fee" policy seems pretty straightforward, some worry about the increasing costs. Currently, every family in the city pays a garbage fee of 15 yuan ($2.4) a month.

Under the new system, the basic fee remains the same, but each family will receive 60 special bags -- 30 for kitchen waste and 30 for other garbage. If you need more, you'll have to pay more.

"There are more people in some families and less in others. They have to take that into consideration if the policy is to be fair."

The Guangzhou City Administration Commission said the city's 12.7 million residents throw out about 14,000 tons of household garbage every day, averaging about 1.2 kg per person.

The new program is designed to bring that average down to 1 kg per person.

(CNTV.cn July 10, 2012)