Recently, the "Action Plan for the Application and Promotion of Recycled Materials" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), jointly issued by seven departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, was released. The Action Plan aims to gradually increase the application proportion of recycled materials, accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of key industries, support and ensure the security of industrial and supply chains, and promote greater achievements in the development of a circular economy.
The Action Plan proposes that by 2030, the waste recycling and utilization system will be further improved, and the standards and certification systems for the promotion and application of recycled materials will be gradually established. The annual recycling and utilization of scrap steel and waste paper will exceed 300 million tons and 80 million tons respectively, and the annual output of recycled non-ferrous metals and recycled plastics will exceed 25 million tons and 19.5 million tons respectively. The proportion of recycled materials used as alternatives in fields such as automobiles, electrical and electronic products, textiles, and packaging has steadily increased, and the role of recycled material application in ensuring resource security and promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction has been further enhanced.
According to the deployment of the "Action Plan", the state will support the construction of specialized waste paper sorting and processing centers, and enhance the refined sorting of major categories such as boxboard paper, book paper, and newsprint. At the same time, paper-making enterprises are encouraged to adopt efficient diversion technologies and optimize the waste paper recycling process, thereby enhancing market acceptance by improving the quality of recycled paper. These measures will form a complete chain from recycling and sorting to high-value utilization, providing technical support for the recycling volume target.
Given that the proportion of waste paper in China's pulp fiber raw materials has exceeded 60%, if the amount of waste paper recycled reaches 80 million tons by 2030, based on the current ratio of waste paper recycled to the output of paper and paperboard (approximately 1:2), the annual output of paper and paperboard is expected to reach 160 million tons by then.
