There is no organised recycling here in Shanghai such as special bins for glass, paer, plastic etc. However we box up plastic, paper etc and leave it at the steps on the end of our garden and lo and behold about 10-15 minutes later it is gone.

No not the rubbish fairy but an old fellow on a trike with a sort of skip at the back who makes his living by taking the stuff away and selling it at a few cents/pence/jiao per kilo to the local companies who do re-use the stuff.

Walk down any street in Shanghai or most cities in China and you will find people fishing out the plastic bottles and cans from rubbish bins and selling those on to eke out their pensions or even just to make a living.