Classify trash for recycling, or else: That’s the message Guangzhou, Guangdong province, is sending to property management companies.

The city’s urban patrol committee, or chengguan, is cooperating with the housing and urban-rural construction department to create a pilot system that links garbage classification to credit records.

“It aims to further promote garbage classification in the metropolis in the months ahead,” said Peng Ziliang, who is in charge of garbage classification for the chengguan.

“After the new system takes effect this year, the business of local property management companies will be affected if they are found to have a bad credit record,” he said.

Guangzhou will be the first city in the province that links garbage classification to credit records, he said.

Many property management companies from major developers such as Evergrande, R&F, Vanke, Poly, Country Garden, Pearl River Enterprises, Yuexiu, Fangyuan and Times Property attended a training course for garbage classification on July 20.

The course, which will be held from time to time in coming years to promote garbage classification, was jointly organized by the chengguan, the housing department, the health and family planning commission, education bureau, tourism administration, and industrial associations.

The city is also planning to create a training school for garbage classification in the near future, the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

Fu Guifang, professor and vice-dean of the School of Politics and Public Administration at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said linking garbage classification to credit records is an effective and concrete measure to promote recycling.

“It would certainly help encourage companies to sort their garbage before dumping it,” Fu said.

She urged government departments to spare no effort to promote garbage classification among companies and residents, to help tackle the city’s garbage problem. Many companies and residents still have poor awareness of environmental protection, she said.

Tang Tuhong, a professor at South China Agricultural University’s School of Marxism, said he has high expectations for the new system and is confident it will help promote garbage classification.

“Garbage classification usually reflects the overall quality of residents and is an important mark of a city’s level of civilization,” Tang said. “But departments will still have to expand patrols and supervision to guide companies and residents to sort garbage after the new system has taken effect.”

Huang Fengying, a Guangzhou office worker, said the new system will certainly help promote garbage classification in the city and help government departments solve the worsening garbage problems, as no one wants to have a bad credit record.

Guangzhou, which has a population of more than 16 million, produces 28,000 metric tons of domestic garbage every day. The city can only deal with about 16,000 tons of domestic garbage a day in central urban areas.