TAIYUAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Ms. Jiang from the city of Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, has got so used to recycling old items at home in exchange for money that she can easily name various channels through which to achieve this.
"I used to just throw away idle items. But now I have better ways of getting rid of them," Jiang said.
Thanks to rapid economic development and continuous improvement in people's living standards, the amount of household waste items generated in China has been increasing.
Recycling, as part of a green and low-carbon circular economy development model, is playing an increasingly important role in a country that is committed to achieving carbon neutrality.
In Taiyuan, many communities have set up specific recycling points for old items, allowing residents to trade their old items at their doorsteps.
According to Jiao Xiaoming, director of the urban cleaning service center in the city's Jinyuan District, more than 200 smart recycling boxes have been installed within the district as part of a paid recycling service for small items, while some collection points accepting large items, such as tables and chairs, have also been set up.
In 2021, China's National Development and Reform Commission issued the "14th Five-Year (2021-2025) Plan for Circular Economy Development," which proposed improvement of the recycling network for waste materials, enhancing the processing and utilization of renewable resources, and promoting the clustered development of the renewable resources industry. Notably, additional policies have also been introduced during this period.
Driven by policies, China's old item recycling industry has thrived. According to a report released by the China National Resources Recycling Association, total recycling volume of the 10 categories of renewable resources, including scrap steel, waste plastic, waste paper and waste tires, had reached about 376 million tonnes in 2023 -- achieving stable growth of 1.5 percent compared to 2022.
Meanwhile, the appearance of internet platforms has provided even more convenient services to residents, through the combination of online and offline services.
Li Yanjiong, who lives in Beijing, sold his old mobile phone on an internet recycling platform.
"The whole process was very convenient and fast. After placing an order on the app, a staff member immediately came to my door to check the phone. I got paid in just 10 minutes," he said.
In addition, some platforms have introduced incentive mechanisms such as points redemption and cash rewards, further boosting the enthusiasm of residents for participating in the recycling of old or idle items.
"The market size of China's old item recycling and circular economy is steadily growing. Thanks to our continuously improving service quality, recycling services for multiple categories such as bags, watches, gold and clothing are becoming increasingly popular with users. In the third quarter of 2024 alone, recycling in these categories amounted to 950 million yuan (about 132.5 million U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of over 270 percent," said Wang Yongliang, president of ATRenew, a major Chinese recycling company.
Professor Geng Yeqiang from the School of Economics and Management at Shanxi University said that a circular economy centered on old item recycling provides strong support for building a resource-saving society in China.
"It not only reduces environmental pollution and waste disposal costs but also enhances people's awareness of waste utilization. A continuously developing and improving old item recycling system will promote the circular economy to a level where it will become an important part of China's future economic development," Geng said. ■
