Shanghai's first environmental protection young volunteer alliance was established yesterday, and members of 69 volunteer organizations are expected to be its first members, the city’s greenery authorities said.

The alliance aims to encourage more people to join in the city’s garbage sorting plan, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said. It will help to promote garbage sorting knowledge and host activities such as cycling, summer camping, and micro film competition related to garbage sorting to raise people’s awareness.

A further 1 million households will be covered in the city’s garbage sorting plan this year, and the target is to cover all residential communities within the middle ring road by the year end, the bureau said. By the end of last year, the plan covered 2.8 million households in the city.