The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently issued the Circular Economy Development Plan for the 15th Five-Year Period (hereafter referred to as "the Plan"), charting the course for China's circular economy over the next decade. For the stainless steel industry, the Plan's directives to enhance the high-value utilization of recycled resources like scrap steel serve as a pivotal guide for green transformation.

Clear Targets: Elevating the Role of Scrap Steel and Other Recycled Resources
    The Plan sets ambitious goals: by 2030, China's major resource productivity will increase by approximately 16% compared to 2025, the annual volume of major recycled resources will reach 510 million tons, and the output value of the resource recycling industry will hit 8 trillion yuan. Significantly, the high-value development and utilization of scrap steel, a key component of "urban mining," is explicitly highlighted as a priority in the Plan's main tasks, aiming to address bottlenecks such as inefficient collection channels and low utilization rates.

Industry Opportunity: Raising the Scrap Ratio to Drive Green Stainless Steel Manufacturing
    Utilizing scrap stainless steel for production is now a crucial pathway for the industry to reduce its carbon footprint. 2025 data indicates that scrap steel already accounted for 27% of raw material inputs in China's production processes. With the Plan's emphasis on accelerating the high-value use of traditional "urban mines," stainless steel enterprises are expected to gain access to a more stable and standardized supply of scrap feedstock. This will enable them to increase their scrap utilization rate through technological upgrades, thereby reducing reliance on primary raw materials.

Outlook: Full-Chain Efforts to Support High-Quality Industry Growth
    The Plan advocates a full-chain approach encompassing production, consumption, and recycling, and calls for improving the recycling system for solid waste from "new three major items" (such as retired power batteries, wind power equipment, and photovoltaic modules). This signals that the stainless steel industry will receive clearer policy support and standard guidance in areas like scaling up the application of recycled materials and participating in the development of closed-loop recycling systems. Such advancements will empower the industry to play a more significant role in ensuring resource security and achieving China's "dual carbon" goals.