Nowadays, such rejected devices are finding their way to online platforms, which either resell them as secondhand goods at attractive prices or channel them to recycling firms if they are deemed low-value items.
Meanwhile, about 370 million handsets were discarded in 2020, and the figure rose to 404 million last year, the report said. However, only 2% of them have been recycled using regular channels, said a report in August, citing data from the Industry and Information Technology Ministry. Established in 2011, ATRenew, which stands for “all things renew”, has opened 1,629 brick-and-mortar stores in 241 cities across the nation as of June 30.
The company now operates four business lines, covering consumer-to-business or C2B electronics recycling platform Aihuishou, B2B used electronics trading platform Paijitang, B2C secondhand platform Paipai as well as AHS Device, which concentrates on electronics recycling in the global market.