Opening ceremony for the China Qingyuan Recycling Resourcer Demonstration Base.	He Fangming, secretary-general of the China Resource Association, reading his organizationg's Green Credit Declaration.	President Guan Aiguo.

A grand ceremony was held on May 31 this year to mark the opening of the China Qingyuan Renewable Resources Demonstration Base in Guangdong Province's Qingyuan City. The base was established after winning approval from the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Environmental Protection Administration and three other relevant ministries. It reflects China's efforts in constructing a recyclable economy. The base is also a provincial-level demonstration program for building an energy- and resource-saving society and part of the Ministry of Commerce's endeavors to build a modern renewable resources recycling and re-utilization system.

So what is the current situation of China's renewable resources industry? And where does Qingyuan fit in? Guan Aiguo, president of the Qingyuan base, gives us his understanding.

China's Recycling Industry

Renewable resources refer to so-called waste materials generated in the course of daily life or manufacturing that have degraded in value but can be recycled and re-used. Substituting these resources for primary raw materials reduces energy consumption and pollution levels. It is little wonder then that the renewable resources industry, as the most important step in the development of a recyclable economy, has received strong support from governments around the world.

Here in China, renewable resources have proven vital to some major industries. They account for 26 percent of raw materials consumed by the steel industry, more than 20 percent of those used in the non-ferrous metals industry, and some 50 percent of those used in the papermaking industry.

Yet China's renewable resources industry remains in its infancy, and teething problems abound. They include the low quality of labor, small-scale operation, a yawning technological gap, secondary pollution and a low processing ratio. Prior to 2001, there were only 5,000 to 6,000 renewable resources businesses nationwide. But when the government abolished the waste collection certification system and formulated special tax policies in 2002, the number of recycling enterprises exploded, particularly in the coastal areas of southeast China. Today, there are about 60,000 to 70,000 such enterprises in China, employing more than 10 million people.

Though the industry was largely propelled by the government's policies, poor regulations and management caused chaos in its operation. A series of problems emerged for society, the environment and public facilities. Motivated by profit alone, most of the small-scale operators produced even more secondary pollution and waste.

The Qingyuan Demonstration Base

The recycling industry in Qingyuan City has a history of 20 years. Since its inception, it has grown into a large-scale industry with local characteristics and an excellent reputation for collecting, dismantling and processing waste materials.

Some RMB 1.5 billion has been invested in the China Qingyuan Renewable Resources Demonstration Base, invested and operated by the Qingyuan Huaqing Renewable Resources Investment and Development Co., Ltd, which was co-founded by the China Renewable Resources Development Company and the Guangdong Xinyaguang Electrical Cable Co., Ltd.

After all the projects are completed, the base will be the largest renewable resources collecting, dismantling and processing factory in the world. It will have the capacity to handle 3 million tons of waste hardware, electrical appliances, motors, electric wires, cables, metals and plastics, and produce RMB50 billion worth of recycled industrial raw materials every year. The first-phase construction, now completed, covers 50 hectares of land.

Featuring unified planning, lawful operations and the implementation of a unified policy, the base is the first in China's renewable resources industry that boasts modernized management with a platform for the exchange of information, labor, logistics, trade, technology and capital. It has centralized sewage and waste treatment plants, and leads the way in training its technicians and workers.

Most recycling enterprises are still small-scale operations with disintegrated management systems. The Qingyuan mode is the exact opposite. And in terms of reducing energy consumption, increasing the processing ratio and reducing secondary pollution, the base is considered a model for others to follow.