Singapore's Citiraya Industries Ltd has invested US$65 million in a plant in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, designed to recycle IT waste, including used computer screens, mainboards, chips, handsets and TV sets, with operations planned for commencement at the end of 2004.

Supposedly the first electronics recycling center in China's mainland, the Wuxi operation will help to alleviate the environmental impact of the millions of obsolete electronics, being able to dispose of up to 60,000 tons of IT waste annually.

"Before our entry into the domestic market, the used electronics recycling industry was almost a blank paper," said Yang Qinhua, deputy general manager at Citiraya Industries (China) Ltd. Before that, Citiraya sent IT waste received in China to Singapore, the company's headquarters, for disposal. Its Singapore plant can deal with 15,000 tons of electronics annually.

In Shanghai, less than 1,000 of 10,000 discarded handsets are recycled monthly.