The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a plan on March 2 to recycle 7 billion tons of industrial solid waste during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), in an effort to help ease the country's environmental deterioration. The amount is nearly double that of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

By 2015, around 1.6 billion tons of industrial waste will be recycled annually, with a utilization ratio of 50 percent, according to the plan.

In addition, the country will reclaim a total of 350,000 mu (23,333 hectares) of land previously occupied by industrial waste, a move expected to significantly improve the country's ecological environment, during the 2011-15 period.