China's recyclable resources recycling system and policy: A case study in Suzhou

China has begun implementing a strategy to promote resources recycling in the face of resource shortages related to fast industrialization and urbanization. To support this policy transformation, reforming the current recyclable resources recycling system is essential. This paper try to character the current recyclable resource recycling system by a detailed field survey carried out from 2006 to 2008 in Suzhou city, 75 typical actors throughout the generation, collection and recovery process of recyclable resources and all related local government bureaus were surveyed, recycling routes of four typical wastes including scrapped iron and steel, scrapped copper, E-waste, and textile waste were constructed to identify recycling system structural characteristics. Key factors were found to be recovery value and waste generation scale, which impact the recycling patterns and main actors of each recycling system. The mentioned strategy and current policies for promoting and regulating recycling are reviewed according to the results of our field surveys, our suggestions include establishment of an ERP system for problematic recycling system, creating tax incentives to encourage recycling, encouraging R&D and regulation of the collection system.