Zhang Deyuan: Recycled Materials Will Become an Important Guarantee for the Security of China’s Industrial and Supply Chains
Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments jointly issued the Action Plan for the Promotion and Application of Recycled Materials (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan), marking the first time that a dedicated document has been formulated to deploy the promotion and application of recycled materials.
With the development of economy and society and the improvement of people's consumption level, the stock of renewable resources contained in waste products and equipment is constantly increasing. How to properly develop and utilize these resources has become an important issue in the current development of circular economy.
By focusing on both the supply and demand sides, the Action Plan accelerates the establishment of a policy and institutional system for the promotion and application of recycled materials. It is of great significance for comprehensively building a resource recycling system covering the whole society, and helps foster a new concept of resource security where primary resources and recycled resources complement each other.
I. Enhancing the Supply Guarantee Capacity of Recycled Materials to Fill the Key Link in Application and Promotion
Waste recycling and disposal enterprises are highly motivated, and basically all valuable waste can be collected in full as appropriate. At the same time, manufacturers in sectors such as automobiles, home appliances, and packaging also have a strong demand for high-quality recycled materials. Further improving the recycled material supply system will help provide more high-quality, traceable recycled materials and promote the establishment of an interconnected green supply chain system.
The Action Plan proposes to enhance the supply guarantee capacity of recycled materials, encouraging qualified iron and steel enterprises to develop short-process steelmaking with full-scrap electric arc furnaces, strengthening the supply of high-quality recycled iron and steel, improving the capacity for grade-preserving utilization of recycled non-ferrous metals, upgrading the quality of recycled paper and recycled glass, and accelerating the construction of a high-value recycling system for waste plastics. These measures will help break through the bottlenecks and blockages in the supply of high-quality recycled materials and smooth out the industrial chain for the application and promotion of recycled materials.
II. Improving the Waste Recycling System and Consolidating the Resource Foundation for the Promotion and Application of Recycled Materials
Strengthening the construction of the waste recycling system at the source is the raw material foundation for promoting the production and application of recycled materials.
The Action Plan proposes to improve the waste recycling system, promote the classified collection and refined dismantling of end-of-life vehicles, waste electrical and electronic products, waste power batteries, waste mechanical and electrical products, waste wind power and photovoltaic equipment, etc. It also calls for strengthening the construction of source-classified recycling systems for waste plastics, waste paper, waste glass, waste textiles and other waste materials.
To further standardize the waste recycling link, the Action Plan puts forward promoting the revision of the Measures for the Administration of Renewable Resource Recycling, and improving the recycling and disposal systems for end-of-life vehicles and waste power batteries.
Standardizing waste recycling practices at the source will ensure that waste can not only be collected effectively, but also sorted precisely, facilitating the classified disposal and resource utilization by subsequent recycling and disposal enterprises.
III. Focusing on Key Industries for Application and Promotion to Drive Targeted Utilization of Recycled Materials
After years of development, China’s circular economy has formed a relatively sound resource recycling system, and enterprises have widely embraced the use of recycled materials to reduce raw material costs. The issuance of the Action Plan will help drive enterprises in relevant sectors to turn the increased use of recycled materials into a voluntary corporate practice, making it a key strategy for enterprises to achieve green and low-carbon development and an important means to fulfill their social responsibilities.
The Action Plan clearly identifies automobiles, electrical and electronic products, batteries, textiles, packaging and other sectors as the key industries for the application and promotion of recycled materials. It specifies the components where recycled materials should be prioritized, as well as the types of recycled materials that should be mainly used for different products. Meanwhile, it encourages leading enterprises in relevant fields to formulate and implement plans for the application and promotion of recycled materials, thereby creating ideal avenues for high-quality recycled materials to play their full role.
IV. Strengthening Supervision, Publicity and Guidance to Expand the Consumer Demand Market for Recycled Material Products
The large-scale promotion and application of recycled materials involve two key aspects: on the one hand, it requires the quality supervision and management of recycled materials to ensure that the public can use such products with complete peace of mind; on the other hand, it entails consumer education and knowledge popularization to enable the public to fully understand and recognize these products, so that they can use them with satisfaction.
The Action Plan fully implements the people-centered philosophy. In terms of quality management, it adopts multiple measures to uphold the bottom line of quality and safety. It proposes to improve the quality standard system for recycled materials, raise the requirements for the quality, human health, safety and environmental protection of recycled materials, and ensure the reliable quality of recycled materials. It also encourages qualified certification bodies to carry out certification work, enabling consumers to purchase products that meet the required standards.
Meanwhile, the Action Plan calls for strengthening cross-departmental joint law enforcement and supervision, strictly implementing the standards for the performance, safety and environmental protection of recycled materials, vigorously promoting green consumption, popularizing knowledge on the application and promotion of recycled materials, and enhancing the participation of enterprises in the application and promotion of recycled materials as well as the public's recognition of such materials.
To expand consumer demand, the Action Plan proposes to timely study and promote the inclusion of certified recycled material application products in the green procurement scope of governments and public institutions, and encourage enterprises to increase their procurement of products containing recycled materials.
Vigorously promoting the application of recycled materials is an important way to ease the over-reliance of economic and social development on primary resources. It is also an imperative path to advance the comprehensive green transition of the economy and society, achieve high-quality economic and social development, and build an ecological civilization.
The Action Plan has sounded the clarion call of the era for the large-scale application of recycled materials, laying a solid foundation for accelerating the construction of a resource recycling system and an institutional framework for the promotion and application of recycled materials that are suited to China’s national conditions.
(By: Zhang Deyuan, Director/Associate Research Fellow, Research Office of Circular Economy, Institute of Economic System and Management, Academy of Macroeconomic Research, National Development and Reform Commission)
Source: National Development and Reform Commission
