Visiting students putting a plastic bottle in the recycling machine. (Chinanews.com)

Dozens of local school children and their parents were treated to a detailed look at the intricacies of the recycling process during a recent visit to a recycling center in China’s Lanzhou city, China News Service (CNS) reported.

Zhang Yinglian, head teacher of a second-grade class that visited the center, said the trip was meant to help students understand the materials they learned about in their classroom and to show them how waste can be turned into treasure.

“I believe after this visit, the kids will learn to treasure things and learn to protect the environment,” Zhang said.

According to CNS, the recycling center is a “city mining demo base,” which is used to demonstrate the latest technologies used in a specific industry to citizens.

“It was very interesting,” Elementary school student Ma Yiyun said. “For example, a cardboard become a box with printed characters on them after going into one machine.”

Recycling center personnel showing a recycled cardboard box. (Photo: Chinanews.com)

Student Zhang Xitong said the visit to the facility has inspired her entire family to become more environmentally conscious.

“Now our community has separate trash cans for different categories of waste,” Zhang said. “My family and I have been gradually adopting the habit of separating trash.”

In recent years, Lanzhou city officials have pushed for several initiatives to make the city’s recycling process more efficient. For example, the city would send recycling personnel to communities on holidays.

Students recycling plastic bottles and cans. (Photo: Chinanews.com)

Recycling companies are also working with Lanzhou’s Environment Protection Bureau for “sorting collection, sorting transportation, and sorting disposal.”

Parent Li Yadong said that although environment consciousness has risen, many parents and other citizens still lack proper knowledge and awareness about recycling efforts.

“This trip has been meaningful for both kids and parents,” Li said.