China is anticipated to recycle an estimated 350 million tons of waste resources including nonferrous metals, paper, plastic, and steel every year by 2020, according to an official guideline issued by the ministries of industry and information technology, commerce, and science and technology.

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To initiate the program, China plans to develop a system for renewable resources. By the end of the decade, the country aims to recycle 150 million tons of waste steel, 18 million tons of waste nonferrous metals, 23 million tons of waste plastic, and at least 50 percent of its waste paper, according to the published guideline.

Earlier this year, China's State Council also initiated the Extender Producer Responsibility Plan that will oblige producers to be responsible for the entire life cycle of products including design, consumption, recycling, and waste disposal.

The program will initially be applicable for the electronics, automobiles, lead-acid batteries, and packaging products, SMM News reported. The initiative aims to standardize the market and end the illegal flow of scrap lead-acid batteries to traders and then to unqualified secondary lead smelters.

Under the new regulation, domestic lead-acid battery producers are required to create a whole life traceability system for products and to recycle scrap batteries via manufacturer's very own marketing avenue and other professional companies' recycling network.

It also requires professional firms to dispose standby and energy storage batteries; research and improve recycling technology and cross-regional transport method; and set up a lead-acid batteries recycling system and introduce the "sell one battery and recycle one scrap battery" policy, an initiative first implemented in Shanghai.

Tagswaste resources, renewable resources, waste resources china