China Draws the Roadmap for the Recycling Economy During the 14th Five-year Period

By Lily Wang

According to the latest news from the National Development and Reform Commission， in order to implement the requirements of the law regarding promoting the recycling economy and to further promote the development of the recycling economy， the National Development and Reform Commission has issued the “Plan for the Development of Recycling Economy During the 14th Five-Year Period”（hereinafter referred to as the plan）， which requires that by 2025， the recycling production mode will be fully implemented， green design and clean production will be widely promoted， the comprehensive utilization capacity of resources will be significantly improved， and the resource recycling industry system will be basically established. Furthermore， the plan requires strengthening the green packaging of the express industry and achieving the delivery of original packaging for key product categories. By 2025， most express items for e-commerce businesses will include no double packaging.

Resource utilization capacity will be evidently enhanced by 2025

The plan points out that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period， Chinas recycling economy has achieved positive results. In 2020， the output rate of the main resources has increased by approximately 26% when compared with that of 2015. The energy consumption per unit of GDP has continued to decline significantly， and the water consumption per unit of GDP has decreased by 28%. However， Chinas recycling economy still faces many outstanding issues， such as the low efficiency of resource output in key in- dustries， the low standardization level for recycling renewable resources， the lack of land guarantees for recycling facilities， difficulties in the recovery and utilization of low-value recyclables， a high volume of bulk solid wastes， insufficient utilization and low added value of comprehensive utilization products， etc.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period， regardless of whether same is approached from the perspective of the global green development trend and requirements on the treatment for climate change， or from the perspective of domestic resource demand and utilization level， China must vigorously develop its recycling economy， strive to solve prominent contradictions and problems， achieve efficient utilization and recycling of resources， and promote high-quality social and economic development.

According to the plan， by 2025， the recycling production mode will be fully implemented， green design and clean production will be widely promoted， the comprehensive utilization capacity of resources will be significantly improved， and the resource recycling industrial system will be basically established. The recycling network of waste materials and the recycling capacity of renewable resources will be further improved， and the resource recycling system covering the whole of society will be basically completed. The utilization efficiency of resources shall be largely enhanced， the replacement ratio of renewable resources to original resources will be further increased， and the recycling economy will play a more important role in guaranteeing resource security.

By 2025， the output rate of the main resources will be increased by approximately 20% compared with 2020， and the energy and water consumption per unit of GDP will be reduced by 13.5% and 16% respectively from 2020. The comprehensive utilization rate of crop straw will remain above 86%， and the comprehensive utilization rate of bulk solid waste and construction waste will both reach 60%. Utilized waste paper will reach 60 million mt， and utilized waste steel will reach 320 million mt. The production of renewable non-ferrous metals will reach 20 million mt， with the production of renewable copper， aluminum and lead reaching 4 million， 11.5 million and 2.9 million mt， respectively. The total industry value of resource recycling utilization will reach RMB 5 trillion.

Three key tasks

The plan points out that the development of the recycling economy， the promotion of efficient and economical utilization of resources， and the construction of a resource recycling industry system and a recycling system for waste materials are important for ensuring national resource security， promoting the realization of the carbon peak and carbon neutralization， and advancing the construction of an ecological civilization. The plan proposes three key tasks：

Building a resource recycling industry system to improve the efficiency of resource utilization. The plan calls for“promoting green design of key products” “strengthening clean production of key industries” “promoting recycling development of the park” “strengthening comprehensive utilization of resources”and “promoting collaborative disposal of urban waste”.

Building a recycling system for waste materials and building a resource recycling society. The plan also requires an improvement in the recycling network for waste materials. The facilities related to the recycling of waste materials will be included in the overall planning of land and space， so as to satisfy the land demand， reasonably arrange and standardize the construction of the recycling network system， and comprehensively promote the integration of the waste material recy- cling network and the domestic waste sorting network. It is also important to relax the restrictions on the entry of waste material collection vehicles into cities and residential areas， and regulate vehicle management to ensure the reasonable right of way. It is also imperative to actively implement the “internet+ recycling” mode to achieve synergy between online and offline operations， improve the capability of standardized recycling enterprises to integrate with individual operators， and further facilitate the collection and treatment of waste disposal by households. It is important to regulate the business order of the waste material recycling industry and improve the overall image and operation capability of the industry. It is also imperative to improve the rural recycling network according to local conditions， and promote the integrated development of the urban and rural waste material recycling systems. It is also necessary to support waste material collections by means of supply and marketing cooperatives based on the sales service network.

At the same time， the plan requires regulation of the development of the second-hand commodity mar-ket. It is necessary to improve laws and regulations on the circulation of second-hand goods， to establish and improve the standards for the identification， evaluation and classification of second-hand goods such as vehicles， home appliances and mobile phones， and to standardize the circulation order and trading behaviors in the second-hand commodity market. The development of the “internet plus second-hand” mode should be encouraged， as well as enhancing the management responsibilities of internet trading platforms， strengthening the supervision of transaction behaviors， providing standardized services for second-hand commodity transactions， encouraging platform enterprises to introduce third party second-hand commodity business operators， and improving the efficiency of second-hand commodity trading. China will promote the standardized construction and operation of offline second-hand markets， and encourage the construction of a centralized and standardized “flea market”. It is also important to encourage schools at all levels to set up old book sharing corners and sharing days to promote the exchange of old books between teachers and students. It is imperative to encourage the community to regularly organize second-hand commodity trading activities， and to promote the trading and circulation of idle goods of residential families. The plan also requires “improving the level of processing and utilization of renewable resources” and “promoting the high-quality development of the re-manufacturing industry” .

The third is to deepen the development of the agricultural recycling economy and establish a recycling agricultural production mode. The plan proposes “strengthening the resource utilization of agricultural and forestry wastes” “strengthening the recycling of waste agricultural materials”and “promoting the recycling agricultural development mode”.

In addition， the plan also proposes 11 key activities， including“construction projects for the recycling system of urban waste materials” “recycling development projects of business parks” “demonstration projectsfor the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste” “demonstration projects for resource utilization of construction waste” “innovation projectsfor key technologies and equipment of the recycling economy” “high quality development actions in the re-manufacturing industry” “recycling and quality improvement actions in waste electrical and electronic products”“quality improvement actions forelectrical wastes” “promotion actions for whole life cycle management of vehicles” “special actions for whole-chain treatment of plastic pollution” and the“actions for recycling utilization of waste power batteries” .

Furthermore， the plan requires th strengthening of the green management of express packaging， the promotion of the cooperation between e-commerce and manufacturers， and the realization of the original direct delivery of key categories of products. It is also important to encourage packaging producers， e-commerce operators and express businesses in the upstream and downstream industries to establish alliances， support the establishment of qualified supplier systems for express packaging products， and promote the idea of manufacturers consciously reducing over-packaging. It is also necessary to implement the green product certification system of express packaging， carry out pilot projects for scaled applications of recyclable express packaging， and increase the proportion of use of recyclable transfer bags （boxes）. It is important to strengthen the promotion and application of green circulation and utilization of standardized turnover boxes， encourage e-commerce operators and express enterprises to work with business institutions， convenience stores and property service enterprises to set up recycling points under the recyclable express packaging agreement， and install professional recycling facilities for recyclable express packaging. By 2025， e-commerce express will have no secondary packaging， and there will be 10 million recyclable express packaging products.