Chinese Province Will Now Damage Credit Scores of People Who Don’t Sort Their Trash

The regulation will cover all cities and towns, and organizations, enterprises and individuals all have responsibilities and obligations to sort out their garbage, according to Xinhua. Anyone caught violating this regulation will be subjected to punishment, with the infraction recorded into their credit histories.

The penalty will greatly affect an individual’s chance of applying for a bank loan in the future. but those who follow the regulation will reportedly receive a reward.

The regulation has been considered by officials as a solution to the province’s severe problems when it comes to dealing with household garbage disposal. Zhejiang is one of the most heavily urbanized regions in the country, with a population of around 55 million, Shanghaiist reported via Medium.

The latest regulation in Zhejiang is part of China’s master plan to introduce a “social credit score” in the country by 2020. More rules are now coming into effect as part of the country’s effort.

Washington Post China correspondent, Emily Rauhala, tweeted recently about an automated announcement she heard on a Beijing-Tianjing train, which said that people who break the train rules would hurt their credit score.

Train violations include endangering public safety, smoking on a train, making fake train tickets, using false identification documents, and traveling without a ticket.

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons / Daniel Case (CC BY-SA 3.0)