General Office of the State Council on accelerating construction

Opinions on the Waste Recycling System

Guobanfa [2024] No. 7

To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as all ministries and departments of the State Council and their directly affiliated institutions:

Building a waste recycling system is an important measure to implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, ensure national resource security, actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and accelerate the green transformation of development mode. To accelerate the construction of a waste recycling system, with the approval of the State Council, the following opinions are proposed.

1、 Overall requirements

With the goal of improving the efficiency of resource utilization, we will take the fine management, effective recycling and efficient use of waste as the path to cover all fields of production and life, develop the resource recycling industry, improve incentive and restraint mechanisms, accelerate the establishment of a comprehensive, efficient, standardized and orderly waste recycling system, lay a green and low-carbon foundation for high-quality development, and help build a beautiful China in an all-round way.

——Systematic planning and coordinated promotion. Based on the process of China's new industrialization and urbanization, we will systematically promote the recycling of waste in various fields, and strive to improve the capacity level of all aspects of waste recycling. Strengthen the coordination of waste recycling policies, departments, regions, and industries, and strengthen the coordination of policy mechanisms.

——Classify policies and make precise efforts. Based on the characteristics of various types of waste sources, scales, resource values, utilization methods, and ecological environment impacts, classify and clarify the main responsibilities and technical paths of waste recycling, layout the resource recycling industry according to local conditions, and improve the operational efficiency of the waste recycling system.

——Innovation driven, improving quality and efficiency. Play a leading role in innovation, strengthen technological innovation, model innovation, and mechanism innovation in waste recycling, continuously open up new fields, shape new driving forces, expand waste recycling methods, enrich waste recycling categories, and enhance the value of waste recycling.

——Government guidance and market dominance. Give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better leverage the role of the government, establish a policy system and incentive constraint mechanism conducive to waste recycling, stimulate the vitality of various business entities, guide public participation, and enhance the endogenous driving force of waste recycling.

By 2025, a preliminary waste recycling system covering various fields and links will be established, and positive progress will be made in the recycling of major waste. The annual utilization of bulk solid waste such as tailings, fly ash, coal gangue, smelting slag, industrial by-product gypsum, construction waste, straw, etc. reaches 4 billion tons, and the comprehensive utilization rate of newly added bulk solid waste reaches 60%. The annual utilization of major renewable resources such as scrap steel, scrap copper, scrap aluminum, scrap lead, scrap zinc, waste paper, waste plastics, waste rubber, and waste glass reaches 450 million tons. The annual output value of the resource recycling industry has reached 5 trillion yuan.

By 2030, a comprehensive, efficient, standardized and orderly waste recycling system will be established, and the value of various waste resources will be fully tapped. The proportion of recycled materials in raw material supply will further increase, and the scale and quality of the resource recycling industry will significantly improve. The overall level of waste recycling will be among the top in the world.

2、 Promote fine management and effective recycling of waste

（1） Strengthen the fine management of industrial waste. Consolidate the main responsibility of waste generating units and improve the general industrial solid waste management ledger system. Promote the classified collection and storage of industrial solid waste, prevent mixed stacking and discharge, and reserve conditions for resource recycling. Conduct a comprehensive investigation of historical solid waste storage sites, implement graded and classified rectification, and urge enterprises with large storage volumes to strengthen resource recycling. Improve industrial wastewater collection and treatment facilities. Encourage waste generation units and utilization units to carry out point-to-point targeted cooperation.

（2） Improve the agricultural waste collection system. Establish a sound system for the collection, treatment, and utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and construct supporting facilities such as centralized collection and treatment of livestock and poultry manure, storage and utilization of biogas residue and slurry according to local conditions.Improve the straw collection, storage and transportation system, guide large straw producers to collect and store on the spot, and cultivate third-party service subjects for collection, storage and transportation. To guide local governments to strengthen recycling of waste agricultural materials such as agricultural film, pesticide and fertilizer packaging, agricultural machinery and tools, and fishing nets. Actively give play to the role of supply and marketing cooperation system recycling network.

（3） Promote the classification and recycling of social waste. Continuously promote the classification of household waste. Improve the recycling network for various types of waste materials such as household appliances and electronic products. Further enhance the pre-treatment capacity of the waste material recycling process. Promote the integration of household waste classification and waste material recycling networks. Adapt measures to local conditions and improve the rural waste material recycling network. Revise the regulations on construction waste management and improve the construction waste management system. Encourage public institutions to play a leading role in the classification and recycling of waste materials. Support the development of the "Internet plus+recycling" model. Promote production and sales enterprises with conditions to carry out reverse logistics recycling of waste products. Deeply implement the target responsibility system for producer recycling in fields such as home appliances and electronic products. Strengthen the recycling and utilization of urban landscaping waste. Accelerate the construction of urban domestic sewage collection pipeline network.

3、 Improve the level of waste resource utilization and reuse

（4） Strengthen the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste.Further expand the channels for comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste, strengthen the promotion and application of comprehensive utilization products in the construction field while meeting environmental quality standards and requirements, smooth the utilization and consumption channels of underground filling, ecological restoration, roadbed materials, etc., and promote efficient extraction and clean utilization of valuable components in tailings and smelting slag. Intensify research and development efforts on large-scale utilization technology and equipment for complex and difficult to use industrial solid waste. Continuously promote the comprehensive utilization of straw.

（5） Strengthen the efficient utilization of renewable resources.Encourage the rational extension of the deep processing industry chain for renewable resources such as scrap steel, scrap non-ferrous metals, waste paper, and waste plastics. Support the green, mechanized, and intelligent upgrading of existing renewable resource processing and utilization projects. Encourage enterprises and research institutions to strengthen the research and development of technological equipment, and support the promotion and application of advanced technologies.Accelerate the utilization of sewage resources, upgrade and expand existing sewage treatment facilities, systematically plan and construct sewage recycling facilities, and implement regional recycled water recycling projects according to local conditions.

（6） Guide the facilitation and standardization of second-hand commodity transactions. Encourage the development of the "Internet plus+second-hand" model. Support the construction of centralized and standardized second-hand commodity trading markets in regions with conditions. Improve the management system for second-hand goods transactions, study and formulate management measures for online second-hand goods transactions, and improve the talent training and management mechanism for the second-hand goods evaluation and appraisal industry. Introduce relevant regulations on information clearing methods for second-hand commodity trading enterprises when trading electronic products such as tablets and mobile phones, to ensure the security of information for sellers during second-hand goods transactions. Research and solve intellectual property issues related to services such as resale and refurbishment of used goods or related products. Support the export of second-hand cars that meet quality and other related requirements.

（7） Promote the remanufacturing of waste equipment. Promote the development of remanufacturing industries in traditional fields such as automotive parts, engineering machinery, machine tools, and cultural office equipment, and explore the orderly development of high-end equipment remanufacturing in new fields such as shield tunneling machines, aviation engines, and industrial robots. Promote the application of common key technologies in remanufacturing such as non-destructive testing, additive manufacturing, and flexible processing. Encourage the application of remanufactured automotive parts products in areas such as after-sales maintenance, while fulfilling the obligation to inform consumers and obtaining their consent.

（8） Promote the energy utilization of waste. Accelerate the construction of urban household waste treatment facilities and fill the gaps in the incineration capacity of household waste in county-level areas. Orderly promote the construction of kitchen waste treatment facilities, and improve the energy and resource utilization level of kitchen waste such as waste oil. Promote the development and utilization of agricultural and forestry biomass energy according to local conditions, and steadily advance the diversified development and utilization of biomass energy. On the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations, environmental and safety standards, and having feasible technology and controllable environmental risks, we will orderly promote the coordinated disposal of some solid waste by municipal solid waste incineration facilities.

（9） Promote the resource recycling production model. Promote the cascade utilization of energy, water resource recycling, and comprehensive utilization of solid waste within enterprises, parks, and industries, and strengthen the resource utilization of industrial residual pressure, waste heat, and waste gas and liquid. Research and formulate guidelines for the development of circular economy in manufacturing industry. Strengthen the clean production audit and result application of key industry enterprises. Deepen the construction of green mines. Promote the recovery and resource utilization of waste gas in the production process of key industries. Support the exploration and application of carbon dioxide resource utilization and carbon sequestration technology models. Deeply implement the circular transformation of the park. Actively promote the construction of ecological industrial parks.Promote circular agricultural production models such as integrated farming and animal husbandry.

4、 Strengthen the recycling of key waste materials

（10） Strengthen the recycling of waste power batteries. Strengthen the traceability management of power batteries for new energy vehicles. Organize the implementation of producer recycling target responsibility system action. Establish a sound standard system for ecological design and carbon footprint accounting of power batteries, actively participate in the formulation of international standards for the recycling of power batteries, and promote international cooperation and mutual recognition of standard specifications. Vigorously promote the quality certification of power battery cascading utilization products, and research and formulate technical specifications for waste power battery recycling and dismantling enterprises. Carry out a joint special inspection campaign to clean up the "workshop style recycling" of waste power batteries. Research on import management policies for old power batteries.

（11） Strengthen the recycling of low value recyclables. Guide local authorities to improve the catalog of low value recyclable materials and continuously improve the accuracy of classifying low value recyclable materials such as waste glass and low value waste plastics in household waste classification. Support various regions to include the recycling and utilization of low value recyclable materials in the scope of government procurement services. Encourage various regions to explore the use of franchising and other methods to promote the recycling and utilization of low value recyclables. Encourage localities with conditions to implement subsidy policies for the recycling of low value recyclables.

（12） Explore new paths for waste recycling. Promote the recycling of retired wind and photovoltaic equipment, establish and improve the responsibility mechanism for handling retired equipment of wind and photovoltaic power generation enterprises. Promote the recycling of waste in new infrastructure fields such as data centers and communication base stations. Study and revise the Catalogue for the Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products, strengthen the management of new types of electrical and electronic waste, and improve environmental management supporting policies such as qualification permits for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products.

5、 Cultivate and strengthen the resource recycling industry

（13） Promote the development of industrial agglomeration. Carry out the upgrading action of "urban mineral" demonstration bases, support the development of industrial agglomeration areas such as demonstration bases for comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste and industrial resource utilization, and deepen the construction of key cities for the recycling system of waste materials. Implement the main functional zone strategy, combined with the requirements of ecological environment zoning and control, guide localities to optimize the layout of resource recycling industries based on local resource endowment, industrial structure, waste characteristics, and other factors.

（14） Cultivate industry backbone enterprises. Cultivate a group of industry backbone enterprises with advanced technology and equipment, standardized management and operation, outstanding innovation capabilities, and strong driving force in different fields and regions. Encourage key urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas to establish and improve regional waste collaborative utilization mechanisms, and support the layout and construction of a number of regional waste recycling key projects. Support domestic resource recycling enterprises to go global and make positive contributions to the construction of the Green Silk Road. Guide state-owned enterprises to play a leading and exemplary role in waste recycling.

（15） Guide the standardized development of the industry. Implement standardized management for enterprises engaged in the processing and utilization of renewable resources such as waste electrical and electronic products, scrapped motor vehicles, waste plastics, waste steel, and waste non-ferrous metals. Strengthen the informatization supervision of solid waste pollution prevention and control, promote the full process monitoring and informatization traceability of solid waste. Strengthen the supervision and management of waste recycling enterprises to ensure stable and compliant emissions. Punish and punish illegal recycling, dismantling, and scrapping of motor vehicles, as well as waste electrical and electronic products, in accordance with the law. Strengthen the management of the recycling industry for renewable resources. Crack down on illegal and irregular activities in the recycling of renewable resources and second-hand commodity transactions in accordance with the law.

6、 Improve policy mechanisms

（16） Improve support policies. Fully utilize existing funding channels to strengthen support for the construction of key waste recycling projects. Implement preferential policies for value-added tax and corporate income tax on the comprehensive utilization of refined resources. Refine the environmental protection standards and requirements for the storage or disposal of solid waste, comprehensively consider factors such as the degree of environmental harm caused by solid waste, environmental protection standards, and the foundation of tax collection and management work, improve the policy implementation of solid waste environmental protection tax, increase tax collection and management efforts, and guide industrial solid waste to prioritize recycling. Orderly implementation of household waste classification and pricing, as well as measurement and charging. Promote the application of green financial tools such as green loans, green bonds, and green trusts, and guide financial institutions to increase their support for waste recycling projects in accordance with the principles of marketization and legalization.

（17） Improve the land security mechanism. Each region should coordinate the construction of recycling facilities for the classification, collection, transfer, and storage of social waste within the area, and include them in the scope of public infrastructure land use to ensure reasonable land use needs. Encourage urban people's governments to improve the land guarantee mechanism for resource recycling projects and leave certain space in planning for ensuring resource recycling projects.

（18） Improve the mechanism for technological innovation. Carry out advanced technology demonstration projects for resource recycling and dynamically update the national industrial resource comprehensive utilization advanced applicable process technology equipment catalog. Encourage local organizations to promote, coordinate, exchange and train on waste recycling technology, and promote the industrial application of technological achievements. Include the research and development of key process technologies and equipment for waste recycling in the scope of relevant key special support under the national key research and development plan. Support enterprises to carry out industry university research cooperation with universities and research institutes.

（19） Improve the promotion and application mechanism of recycled materials. Improve the standard system for recycled materials. Research and establish a certification system for recycled materials to promote international cooperation and mutual recognition. Conduct research on carbon footprint accounting standards and methods for key recycled materials. Establish government green procurement demand standards and include more eligible recycled materials and products in the scope of government green procurement. Combining the implementation of the extended producer responsibility system, we will carry out the action of upgrading the application of recycled materials, and guide production enterprises such as automobiles and electrical and electronic products to increase the proportion of recycled materials used. Encourage enterprises to include the application of recycled materials in their social responsibility scope.

7、 Strengthen organizational implementation

（20） Strengthen organizational leadership. Adhere to strengthening the comprehensive leadership of the Party and the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, implement the Party's leadership throughout the entire process of accelerating the green transformation of development mode in various fields, and effectively accelerate the construction of a waste recycling system. Each region and relevant department should improve their work mechanisms, refine their target tasks, and ensure that all policy measures and key tasks are implemented effectively. The National Development and Reform Commission should strengthen overall coordination, timely evaluate the implementation of this opinion, and work with relevant departments to explore the effectiveness evaluation of urban resource recycling in key cities for the construction of waste material recycling systems, cities that have already carried out household waste classification work, and "waste free cities", and strengthen support and guidance. Timely request and report on major issues.

（21） Strengthen publicity and guidance. Incorporate the concept of circular economy knowledge into the relevant education and training system. At important time points such as National Ecology Day, National Energy Conservation Promotion Week, National Low Carbon Day, and Environment Day, various forms of publicity and education activities will be carried out to vigorously promote the importance of waste recycling and related policy measures. Timely summarize and promote advanced experiences and typical practices.

（22） Strengthen international cooperation. Actively participate in the setting of issues in the field of international circular economy, and strengthen international cooperation in frameworks and multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Establish bilateral cooperation mechanisms in the field of circular economy with more key countries and regions, and deepen bilateral cooperation through policy dialogue, economic and trade cooperation, experience sharing, capacity building, and other forms.

General Office of the State Council　　　　　

February 6, 2024　　　　　

　　(This article has been edited)