China Eyes 4.4 mil mt 2020 Recycled Copper, 9 mil mt Aluminum Output

China is aiming to produce 4.4 million mt recycled copper and and 9 million mt of recycled aluminum by 2020, in line with the central government's goal of using more recycled resources to be eco-friendly, the Henan Provincial Nonferrous Metals Guild said in a report in its website Tuesday.

Henan Provincial Nonferrous Metals Guild, a metals industry association, with over 100 member producers, advises the government on nonferrous metal industry policy, laws and does metal research.

The 2020 output target is 44% and 57% higher than realized recycled copper and recycled aluminum output of 3.05 million mt and 5.75 million mt in 2015. The 2016 data is not yet available.

The guild said China set output goals of 2.5 million mt for recycled lead and 2.1 million mt for recycled zinc by 2020, which is 67% and 53% more than realized output of 1.5 million mt and 1.37 million mt back in 2015.

Figures from the guild showed that China set recycled nonferrous metals production goal of 18 million mt by 2020, up 54% from realized output of 11.67 million mt in 2015.

The higher recycled nonferrous metals output is to keep in line with the the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology's guidance notes for speeding up growth in the mainland Chinese recycled resources sector, the guild said.

China's is forecast to utilize recycled resources of 350 million mt by 2020, according to MIIT.

The growing Chinese recycled metal sector has greatly eased the supply and demand imbalance in primary metal resources, helping the country set up a circular economy, cutting emissions and saving energy, according to MIIT.