SHANGHAI, March 18 -- Shanghai plans to completely classify household garbage by 2020, according to an implementation scheme published by the municipal government online.

The government said that by the end of 2020, the city's household garbage treatment capacity would exceed 32,800 tonnes a day. Among them, 7,000 tonnes of wet garbage will be recycled for use. The garbage recycling rate is expected to reach 35 percent.

Household garbage classification for collection has long been a headache for garbage treatment and recycling in China.

The country selected Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou to pioneer garbage classification in 2000. Prior to Shanghai, none of the cities had announced plans to allow the initiative to cover the whole city.

Without the precondition of garbage classification, modern disposal methods including landfill, burning and bio-degeneration cannot be sufficiently applied. Insufficient recycling has been blamed as a major reason behind the mounting garbage surrounding cities in a rapidly urbanizing China.

Under Shanghai's scheme, property management firms and neighborhood committees are required to supervise residents to obey garbage classification requirements. Sanitation workers will make onsite service to collect waste from shops.

Sanitation workers can report offenders of the regulation to the city's urban management law enforcement department.