Mucky migration: China’s Lunar New Year motorists leave behind a mountain of mess
- Piles of garbage left on trunk route through Zhejiang enough to fill two trucks, take 12 man-days to clear
- Litterbugs can be fined up to US$30, but police warnings do little to deter dumpers
It might have been the world’s biggest human migration but the Lunar New Year travel rush was nothing to celebrate for the street cleaners of one east China city whose job it was to deal with the environmental aftermath.
According to a report by news website Thepaper.cn, a dozen sanitation workers in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, spent the best part of a day collecting detritus dumped by motorists on a section of motorway that runs through their patch.
The huge haul of food wrappers, fruit peelings, drinks cans and plastic bottles and bags was enough to fill two garbage trucks, the local traffic police bureau was quoted as saying.
While most of China’s motorways are toll roads, the charges are waived during the annual festive season and as a result they become magnets for millions of motorists keen to get home for the holidays – and back again – as quickly as possible.
And as the inevitable gridlock swells across the wide lanes, so the occupants of a slow-moving sea of SUVs and sedans turn to packets of snacks and bottles of soda to keep themselves fed, watered and entertained.
While the country’s traffic authorities issue frequent reminders that littering is an offence punishable with a fine of up to 200 yuan (US$30) they appear mostly to be ignored.