A unique garbage reduction program in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, is likely to see residents charged a fee if the trash they toss weighs more than a kilogram per person, said Chen Jianhua, the city's mayor, who promised the money collected by the program would be used to fund the program.

The city government will provide each household with personalized trash bags that will be weighed when they are collected.

Each member of the household will be allowed to dispose of 1 kilogram of garbage a day, the mayor was quoted by the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily as saying Monday.

The mayor said the fees that are collected will be used to fund the collection program, reported the newspaper, which suggested that many residents worry the fees would be pocketed by corrupt officials.

"Residents also have an obligation in this effort, and a charge on the amount of trash they throw out is a good way to get them to reduce," said Dong Liming, a professor with the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences in Peking University.

The Guangzhou Commission of City Administration said the city's 12.7 million residents throw out about 14,000 tons of household garbage every day, averaging about 1.2 kilograms per person.

The fee-for-collection program is designed to bring that average down to 1 kilogram per person.