According to an article by China View, China is drawing a regulation to make manufacturers of appliances pay for recycling of those materials.
Under the regulation being drafted, Chinese manufacturers of televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers will have to pay for product recycling, and consumers will not be allowed to dispose of those appliances at will, said Yin Fengfu with the Haier Group, China's leading home appliances maker.
The draft Management Regulation on the Recycling and Disposal of Used Home Appliances and Electronics Products has provisions on mandatory reclamation of five popular home appliances: television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and computers.
When the regulation takes effect, home appliances manufacturers will have to reclaim used products or collect them for professional garbage disposers for recycling.
According to China View, the regulation is being jointly drafted by officials with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Environmental Protection Administration.
Liu Fuzhong, deputy director of the China Home Appliances Association, said home appliance franchisers should absorb some of the costs for the waste disposal.
The NDRC, China's top economic planning agency, and the Ministry of Finance will establish a special fund to cover some of the manufacturers' recycling costs.
Huang Jianzhong, a senior official of the Ministry of Information Industry, said the drafters of the regulation have taken relevant requirements of the European Union as reference in order to guarantee that Chinese companies will not be squeezed out of the EU market due to the increase in recycling cost.