Waste plastics recycling in 2013 dropped 14.6%, reports MOC

In a report announced by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC), the recycling sector in the country suffered from a slow economy in 2013, with the collection rate of particular products dropped significantly.

The report, created by China Resources Recycling Association (CRRA) for MOC, revealed that plastics waste recycling volume dropped 14.6% year on year in 2013 to 13.66 million tons.

According to the report, there were more 100,000 recycling companies in China last year, which came from eight major categories: steel, painted metal, plastics, tire, paper, electronics, automobiles and vessels. In total, they collected 160 million tons of waste, amounted to RMB 481.71 billion.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for MOC, stated that the use of recycling materials significantly reduced carbon emission. The total amount of waste collected in 2013 represented a reduction of 172.7 million tons of coal usage, which was 4.6% of the total coal consumption in China (3.75 billion tons).

In addition, waste water was reduced by 11.2 million tons, CO2 by 3.77 million tons and solid waste by 3.58 million tons.

The CRRA report predicted that China's recycling industry is poised for a breakthrough year in 2014, helped by ongoing urbanization and rural development. The construction of concentrated recycling parks will also be a main features in the sector.