China's recycled non-ferrous metals industry undergoing rapid expansion

China's recycled non-ferrous metals industry has posted rapid growth during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with its annual production of recycled non-ferrous metals expected to reach 20 million tonnes this year, per the latest industry data.

The domestic output of recycled non-ferrous metals has grown at an average annual rate of 7.2 percent since 2021, reaching 19.15 million tonnes in 2024, the data shows.

During the 2021-2024 period, China accounted for a third of the world's total production of recycled non-ferrous metals, Ge Honglin, president of the China Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Association, said at a recent industrial convention in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

This rise in production contributed to saving 3.6 billion tonnes of mining resources during the 2021-2024 period, and to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 560 million tonnes, according to data from the association.

Technological innovation in the sector has boosted the utilization of recycled resources. A growing number of companies in China now use recycled metals as a major source of raw materials, with some manufacturers reporting that such materials constitute more than 60 percent of their total input of raw materials, the association said.

In the next five years, China will intensify efforts to promote the high-quality development of the recycled non-ferrous metals industry by enhancing its supply system, expanding the utilization of recycled non-ferrous metals in more fields, and strengthening the sector's digital transition, Ge noted.