China Targets $1.1 Trillion Resource Recycling Sector by 2030

China plans to expand its resource recycling industry to reach an output value of 8 trillion yuan (around $1.1 trillion) by 2030, officials announced during the 2026 National Ecology Day event. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stated that the country will tighten recycling standards for renewable energy hardware, strictly enforce regulations requiring electric vehicles to be scrapped with batteries intact, and establish a closed-loop recycling system for emerging solid waste streams as China prepares for its 15th Five-Year Plan.

As China experiences massive expansion in renewable power installations and electric vehicle adoption, managing end-of-life equipment has become an urgent industrial and environmental challenge. Establishing standard management measures for retiring solar panels, wind turbines, and traction batteries aims to secure critical minerals, curb illegal dismantling, and build out high-value circular manufacturing chains.

China is accelerating measures to advance green and low-carbon development, aiming to build an 8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) resource recycling industry by 2030, according to officials at the 2026 National Ecology Day event held in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia. Data released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other central departments indicated that since 2012, China has sustained an average annual economic growth rate of 6.1 percent alongside an average annual energy consumption growth of 3.4 percent. Chinese authorities highlighted that this decoupling makes the country one of the fastest in the world in reducing energy and carbon intensity. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the NDRC stated that China will systematically conduct comprehensive dual-carbon evaluation and performance assessments. The central government intends to promote integrated conservation across energy, water, grain, land, minerals, and industrial materials, enforcing whole-process management and full-chain resource conservation. Speaking at the event, Wang Shancheng, Director of the NDRC's Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection, outlined targeted steps for industrial waste management. He noted that the NDRC is accelerating the drafting of administrative measures specifically governing the recycling and utilization of decommissioned wind power and photovoltaic equipment. Wang stated that China aims to establish a sound, full-chain closed-loop management system by 2030 for solid waste generated by emerging green sectors, including wind equipment, solar panels, and new energy vehicles. Regulators will strictly enforce rules requiring electric vehicles to be scrapped with their traction batteries intact, while launching crackdowns against illicit recycling and unauthorized dismantling operations. To support these objectives, the NDRC plans to upgrade dismantling capabilities for electromechanical equipment, end-of-life vehicles, and consumer electronics. The government will also back the construction of national key laboratories focused on circular economy technologies, support leading enterprises, optimize recycling collection networks, and enhance automated, precision sorting capabilities.