As China's trade-in program is in full swing, the country's recycling industry has been growing.
Data showed that both the amount of recycling and disposal scale have increased significantly. In 2024, the amount of home appliance recycling has risen by 14.83 percent year on year.
"In 2024, China's waste electrical and electronic products recycling market exceeded 150 billion yuan (about 20.59 billion U.S. dollars). The total units of discarded home appliances are expected to surpass 200 million this year," said Zhu Liyang, president of China Association of Circular Economy.
Each year, there are 600 million to 700 million discarded phones in China. Most of them will be disposed by specialist agencies.
They will undergo comprehensive checkup, and those with good quality will then be circulated to secondhand markets.
"Every day, we can dispose over 80,000 telephones. Their service life has been greatly extended," said Yang Yuxi, head of Beijing Branch with a mobile phone recycling company.
Some consumers may worry about the possible leak of their private information via secondhand markets.
But they can rest assured, as not only will their information being wiped with professional software, but their used phones will be physically dismantled by specialized disposal enterprises.
Then, useful parts and materials will then be collected by recycle agencies for reuse, Yang said.
"We will melt down all the electronic chips in each discarded mobile phone and turn them into available resources. In the future, we will form a nationwide mobile phone safe recycling disposal model, and then eventually establish a national safe recycling and terminal resources reuse platform for electrical and electronic products," said Ke Yanchun, general manager of China Resources Recycling Group's Technology Innovation and Digital Intelligence Department.
China's recycling industry flourishes amid trade-in program
The Iranian government is focusing on public concerns and maintaining stable supplies of essential goods amid recent protests, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a televised interview on Sunday.
In the city of Karaj, northwest of the capital Tehran, daily life has largely continued as normal. A video filmed by a local resident on Sunday shows food stores open and grocery shelves fully stocked.
"This is the block near my home, and there are some food stores here. Daily life continues here. Last night we did not see many protests in Karaj. Right now the city is very safe. This is a grocery store close to my home. All the food is available; nothing is in shortage. Here are noodles and different types of beans. Here are dairy products, cheese, and yogurt. I also checked other grocery stores and didn't see any shortages. Everything is available," said local resident Ali Reza.
Iranian officials have described recent disturbances as acts orchestrated by the "enemy," including some carried out by well-trained and armed "terrorists." The incidents have caused casualties among security personnel and civilians, as well as property damage.
The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani has directed authorities to severely punish the "terrorists."
Meanwhile, Iran's police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said on Sunday that the police had raised alert levels and arrested several leaders of the troublemakers during the operations on Saturday.
President Pezeshkian noted in the interview that the normal demands of the Iranian people are reasonable and justified, but they must realize that triggering riots and carrying out terrorist acts are the enemy's attempts to undermine the country. He urged the public to remain vigilant.
Also on Sunday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that Tehran would regard U.S. and Israeli bases and facilities in the Middle East as "legitimate targets" if Washington takes military action against Iran. His remarks followed media reports saying U.S. President Donald Trump is "seriously considering authorizing a strike" against Iran.
Iranian state media reported that at least 109 members of Iran's security forces have been killed in clashes since the protests began 14 days ago. Meanwhile, human rights groups based outside the country said the number of protesters killed has exceeded 200, though the figure could not be independently verified.
The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and sanctions imposed by the United States.
Iranian president says government focusing on ensuring supplies amid protests
