Scrap Avalanche in China Means No More Scouring Globe - Bloomberg
▻http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-07/scrap-avalanche-in-china-means-no-more-scouring-globe.html
China will throw out more than 15 million appliances, 5 million personal computers and 100 million mobile phones next year as growing consumption at home means recyclers can rely less on scrap imports.
This “avalanche of homegrown #trash” will increase domestic #scrap supplies and spur r#ecycling on an unprecedented scale in the next decade, according to Wang Jiwei, secretary general at the recycling division of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
Wang noted Ziya district outside Tianjin port in northeast China. More than 1 million metric tons of used goods land in junkyards around the area, which could yield 400,000 tons of copper, 200,000 tons of iron and 200,000 tons of aluminum, ready to be recast into wires, cables and cans, he said.
“Copper in wires, aluminum in window frames, lead in batteries and all kinds of precious metals in circuit boards in used personal computers are among the resources heading to the scrap yards and waiting to be mined,” Wang said. “It will be a promising industry with many opportunities for investors.”