New Industries Take Root in China’s Recycling Economy380 Million Tonnes of Resources Recycled in 2025

China’s government work report this year called for boosting the green and low-carbon economy and stepping up the recycling of recyclable materials.

With the implementation of policies supporting large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, localities across the country have stepped up technological innovation and strengthened industrial chains to promote “urban mining” the extraction of recyclable materials from discarded home appliances, electronic waste, and other waste products.

Statistics show that China recycled about 380 million tonnes of renewable resources in 2025 .

Discarded Appliances

Fujian Hongyuan Environmental Resources Co., Ltd. , one of four enterprises in southeast China’s Fujian Province licensed to treat waste electrical and electronic products, processes more than 2,000 discarded home appliances every day .

Inside the workshop, a refrigerator is taken apart and separated into plastic, metal, foam, and other components, each entering a different recycling process.

The plastic panels are transported to a green sorting center in Fuzhou. Opened at the end of 2024, the facility now handles the full range of recyclable plastics.

“This may once have been the door of a refrigerator. After crushing here and going through cleaning, melting, and molding at a downstream factory, it can become a park bench or a trash bin.”

From 2024 to 2025, China brought about 53 million used home appliances and mobile phones into standardized dismantling channels, with an average annual increase of roughly 12%.

Waste Textiles

Zhejiang Ailis Dyeing and Finishing Co., Ltd. , in Shaoxing, has partnered with Zhejiang Sci-Tech University to develop a physical-chemical recycling technique for waste polyester fibers.

“This technique is both eco-friendly and cost-effective,” said Jiang Fang , an associate professor from the university.

Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Co., Ltd. produces recycled DMT (dimethyl terephthalate) with a purity of up to 99.9% . A green recycling project with an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes is now operational, and regenerated fibre production is expected to reach 500,000 tonnes by 2030 .

Scrap Steel

Each tonne of scrap steel used can reduce carbon emissions by 1.6 tonnes and save about 2 tonnes of mineral resources .

Angang Green Gold Industry Development Co., Ltd. in Anshan uses independently developed smart grading, intelligent baling, remote monitoring, and QR-code tracing technologies.

As a procurement platform for scrap steel, the company has built a recycling and processing network covering the entire northeast region.

At the city level, Anshan is leveraging a digital platform for the renewable resources industry to regulate scrap-steel processing enterprises and improve supply-demand matching.

To date, 11 enterprises in Anshan have been included in the national entry list for the scrap steel processing industry, with a combined approved capacity of 7.85 million tonnes .

The Bottom Line

380 million tonnes recycled. 53 million appliances processed. 500,000 tonnes of regenerated fibre by 2030. Digital platforms and smart grading.

China’s recycling economy is not just growingit’s industrialising. And new industries are taking root.

{Source: IOL}

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