Pupils of a primary school in Hefei, Anhui Province play the game of garbage sorting, July 11, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- About 80.9 percent of surveyed residents from areas where garbage sorting has not been implemented expressed their eagerness for a policy rollout in their neighborhoods, according to the latest survey released by China Youth Daily Thursday.

About 79.9 percent of the 2,002 respondents in the online survey, conducted by the website wenjuan.com last week, were from places that do not enforce strict garbage sorting policies, and 49.1 percent of them said they were "eagerly expecting it," according to the newspaper report.

On July 1, Shanghai began enforcing a mandatory garbage sorting system that requires residents to sort garbage into four categories and dispose of it at a fixed time and place. The prospect of introducing the system to other cities has made trash sorting a nationwide buzzword.

Zhang Ran, a graduate student from Fudan University in Shanghai, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that her fellow students were quite interested in garbage sorting and it has become trendy on campus.

Among the surveyed, 71.3 percent said they were learning about garbage sorting and 70.2 percent said garbage sorting will help address waste processing difficulties in cities and improve residents' sense of happiness.

The survey also showed that 70.7 percent of the respondents called for the improvement of related facilities, 68 percent expected the upgrading of garbage disposal technology and procedure, while 52.4 percent suggested intensifying supervision and punishment.

Lyu Bin, professor with the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, told the newspaper that citizens' awareness remains key to the successful implementation of garbage sorting and more efforts in this regard are needed, particularly in schools.