(Yicai) Feb. 5 -- China has issued a new policy dedicated to promoting a batch of leading cities and companies in recycling used home appliances and furniture and reusing related resources, aiming to increase its recycling volume of such goods by 15 percent by the end of next year.

The new policy, which was released by the Ministry of Commerce and eight other government departments on Feb. 1, introduced measures to refine China’s home appliance recycling infrastructure network, promoted the formation of large home appliance and furniture recycling and waste-processing companies, and laid out the requirements for their diversification, scale, and standards.

One of the requirements introduced with the new policy is that the government should encourage the formation of large recycling firms that are able to process and recycle at least 300,000 units of home appliances each year.

The new policy will boost consumption, drive trade-in purchases of home appliances, and allocate the country’s home appliance and furniture recycling resources in a smoother manner, Xu Dongsheng, deputy president of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, told Yicai.

There are over three billion home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners, in use in China, and some of them are over 10 years old, so the need for upgrading is quite strong, Xu noted.

But as the country’s home appliance recycling system was not smooth, many consumers faced troubles when trying to sell or get rid of old devices, which hindered their upgrading demand, Xu added.

The demand for consumer electronics in China is falling, partly because of prolonged replacement cycles, Peng JIanfeng, deputy head of the China Video Industry Association, told Yicai. For example, 200 to 300 million television sets in China have been used longer than their recommended service period, most of which have safety risks, consume more energy, and result in poor use experience, Peng added.

The new government requirements to establish a basic infrastructure for the home appliance recycling industry aim to effectively release consumption needs and shorten the replacement cycle of home appliances, Peng said, noting that they are also a key measure to enhance home appliance makers’ responsibility to protect the environment.

Haier Group will apply to the government to become one of the leading home appliance recyclers by the new requirements, a person related to the Shandong province-based white goods giant told Yicai. Haier will build a nationwide recycling network based on its existing physical home appliance stores and logistic distribution centers, the person added.

Suning.Com will suggest forming a national home appliance trade-in alliance with upstream producers, midstream retailers, and downstream recyclers with the help of government agencies, a source at the Chinese retailing giant told Yicai. Suning.Com will also suggest a quicker implementation of service specifications that are unified across domestic industry players to enable consumers to complete trade-ins more conveniently, the source noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione