New recycling rules will help boost circular economy

Editor's note: The central authorities have released a plan to promote the circular economy, calling for strengthening the recycling of solid waste generated by the "new three" industries — electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products. Yao Xin, deputy dean of the Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou) of Tsinghua, shared his insights on the plan with China.com.cn. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The new energy sector is poised for robust growth in the coming years. In 2025, China announced its nationally determined contribution targets for carbon emissions reduction by 2035. Calculations based on these targets indicate that China's total installed capacity of wind and solar power will reach 3.6 billion kilowatts by 2035, more than six times the figure in 2020.

The new energy sector in China is entering a new stage in which a large number of products are going to be retired. The first retirement phase is estimated to begin during the period between 2026 and 2030. Therefore, the plan puts forward a series of measures to promote the utilization of solid waste generated by these products.

The plan sets requirements for the design and manufacturing of the products. For example, one of the requirements is that the products should be easy to dismantle.

It also sets requirements for enhancing the full life-cycle traceability of the products enabled by information technology. The technology is vital, because it helps ensure that solid waste, such as scrapped power batteries and photovoltaic modules, is collected by compliant enterprises and safely disposed of.

Scaling up the utilization of recycled materials is a key step in China's strategy for expanding its circular economy. It is necessary to improve the quality of recycled materials. One example is primary recycling, where waste materials are processed into the same product from which they originated. Such recycling requires more advanced technologies. This could make recycled materials costlier than virgin materials.

To address this challenge, the government should encourage and even require enterprises to use recycled materials. Accordingly, the plan states that certified recycled materials will be included in government procurement.

It's also necessary to make consumers confident that products containing recycled materials are not of inferior quality. Consumers should recognize that recycled products are more eco-friendly because their production emits less carbon and consumes fewer virgin mineral resources.

Both the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange have issued detailed ESG disclosure guidelines for listed companies. Enterprises should also disclose information on their use of recycled materials.

To encourage broader utilization of recycled materials by companies, digital tools should be used to ensure full traceability. Such traceability helps manufacturers verify the quality of the materials they purchase, and makes it easier for them to prove that they have used recycled materials.

The plan also mentions establishing a "digital identity" system for batteries of new energy vehicles.

Besides batteries, the "digital identity" system will likely be rolled out for other products that use rare and precious metals and critical raw materials suitable for recycling.