China will throw out more than 15 million appliances, 5 million personal computers and 100 million mobile phones next year as growing consumption at home means recyclers can rely less on scrap imports.
This “avalanche of homegrown trash” will increase domestic scrap supplies and spur recycling on an unprecedented scale in the next decade, according to Wang Jiwei, secretary general at the recycling division of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
Wang noted Ziya district outside Tianjin port in northeast China. More than 1 million metric tonnes of used goods land in junkyards around the area, which could yield 400,000 tonnes of copper, 200,000 tons of iron and 200,000 tonnes of aluminum, ready to be recast into wires, cables and cans, he said.
“Copper in wires, aluminum in window frames, lead in batteries and all kinds of precious metals in circuit boards in used personal computers are among the resources heading to the scrap yards and waiting to be mined,” Wang said. “It will be a promising industry with many opportunities for investors.”
Next year will mark a turning point as China’s economic growth and industrialization over the past three decades will mean increased scrapping at home, Wang said. He estimates that China recycles 20 percent of its scrap versus 90 percent in developed countries.
Recyclers in China have so far mostly relied on foreign scrap, with production declining this year along with metal prices, increasing environmental protection costs and a dwindling supply of raw materials overseas, Wang said.
Recycled output
Recycled copper output dropped 5.6 per cent in the first nine months of the year to 1.7 million tonnes, while lead output slumped 11 per cent to 980,000 tonnes, according to estimates from the association.
China, the world’s largest car market, will scrap about 9 million to 12 million used vehicles in 2015, according to a report by Dongxing Securities Co published in July.
“Such used vehicle scrapping will have an explosive growth in the next five to 10 years,” said Pan Yonggang, secretary general at China Resource Recycling Association.
The central government has expanded subsidies to encourage metal recycling to reduce the mining industry’s footprint on the environment and smelters’ reliance on foreign mineral resources.
