Abstract
Environmental issues become more and more important recently, and establishment of a global recycling system including Asian countries (e.g., China, Vietnam etc.) as well as that of domestic recycling system is quite important. One major advantage of a global recycling system is efficiency in resource utilization. There exist significant disparity in economic situations among Asian countries, and this makes it possible to utilize resources more efficiently via second-hand market and remanufacturing/recycling processes with low labor cost. However, the difference in environmental regulations and recycling technology may result in the movement of environmental pollution. Therefore, adequate design and control of a global recycling system is eagerly required. This paper reports current situation of recycling process in China based on a field survey executed in 20005, and discusses fundamental problems from the viewpoint of a global recycling system.
