National urban mineral base in Baotou receives national approval

By Liu Yufen (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-11-06

Baotou Aluminum Industry Park was approved as a national urban mineral demonstration base by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce. It will be the first such demonstration base at the national level in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The so-called urban mineral describes recyclable resources, including steel, non-ferrous metal and plastics, that are produced in the processes of industrialization and urbanization and contained in waste materials like electromechanical equipment, cables, telecommunication devices and automobiles. The state plans to build 50 urban mineral demonstration bases that have advanced technologies, are environmentally friendly and feature good radioactive effects during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

According to the estimate, Baotou would produce a total of 25 million tons of solid industrial and living waste per year. This figure is 88 million in the region of Hohhot, Baotou and Ordos. There is ample potential for the development of the urban mineral recycling industry.

To date, there were six resource utilization and processing enterprises specializing in regenerated steel and aluminum in Baotou Aluminium Industry Park. An urban mineral industrial cluster is taking shape there.

In 2013, Baotou Aluminium Industry Park has recycled resources reaching 342,100 tons, which have created profits of 116.5 million yuan in total ($19.06 million).

Edited by Michael Thai