China Economic Net, Beijing, May 6 (reporter Zhou Mingyang) nowadays, electronic products are widely used, and the update speed is faster and faster. Take mobile phones as an example. According to the survey report on the recycling value of used mobile phones released by 360, China's current mobile phone ownership is 900 million. About 50% of domestic users change their mobile phones for 18 months, 20% of them have to change their mobile phones within a year, and about 200 million discarded mobile phones are produced every year in China. Many people will "sell" unused electronic products for money. However, for a long time, the recycling market of second-hand electronic products has been the world of individual traders. There are all kinds of irregular recycling outlets. Many users have the demand for recycling electronic products, but they can't find regular recycling channels. They have to go to individual vendors to sell electronic products at a very low price.
Electronic products contain a lot of precious metals such as gold and silver. At least 150 grams of gold, 100 kilograms of copper and 3 kilograms of silver can be extracted from a ton of waste mobile phones. After dismantling, harmless treatment and other processes, the recycling rate of these waste electronic products can reach 100%. But the general small vendors recycling back will only be simple dismantling, far from maximizing the value of waste electrical appliances. What's more, if not handled properly, lead, mercury and tin in waste electronic products will cause serious pollution to soil, water and air. Aware of this market "blind spot" with both commercial value and environmental protection value, regular second-hand electronic product recycling enterprises began to appear one after another, "love recycling" is one of them.
At present, AI recycle is the largest mobile phone recycling service provider in China, with more than 700 employees. There are more than 100 physical stores in five major cities, all over the major popular business districts and commercial blocks, and the stores are generally located near the elevator entrance and subway entrance in the golden area with large traffic.
In the store that loves recycling, the reporter saw that the staff in uniform are responsible for receiving customers and checking machines, and the number of customers coming to inquire is very large. Customers who need to recycle mobile phones and other electronic products first make a series of multiple-choice questions on the computer screen to select the source, model, color, standard, whether the electronic products are under protection, whether the appearance is worn, whether the functions are normal, etc. after preliminary analysis, the system gives a quotation, and then the staff carries out actual inspection on various indicators and re checks them according to the actual situation, Get the final recovery price. After the customers accept the price, the staff will restore the factory settings of the electronic products and delete all the contents to ensure the privacy and safety of users.
Ms. Chen, who came to recycle mobile phones, told reporters that she would pass by here every day when she went to work. Her first reaction to recycling mobile phones was to come to love recycling and ask. She felt that it was much safer than irregular recycling points on the street. She compared the quotations of some individuals who collected mobile phones, and the price given by love recycling was relatively high. Store staff told reporters, love recycling backstage through millions of qualified recyclers real-time bidding, give users the highest price of the whole network.
In addition to offline operation, AI recycle itself is an o2o enterprise. Chen Xuefeng, founder and CEO, told the Economic Daily that AI recycle adopts the service system of "offline service station + door-to-door". The online part comes from its own traffic of AI recycle's official website, wechat and app. The company also cooperates with e-commerce platforms and mobile phone manufacturers such as Jingdong, No.1 store, Xiaomi and Samsung to build recycling entrance from their platforms. Customers can choose the way of self delivery, door-to-door delivery or delivery after placing an order online. Aihui promises to check and pay within 24 hours. At present, the monthly turnover of Aihui has exceeded 100 million yuan.
So, where do the electronic products recycled through the love recycling platform go? Chen Xuefeng said that after cleaning and safety treatment, the recycled high-end models have re entered the market through the second-hand sales platform, pocket premium products; The middle end mobile phones will be provided to the channel providers and transported to Asia, Africa, Latin America and other countries and regions for the sale of second-hand mobile phones; Low end and damaged mobile phones will be sent to environmental protection dismantling plants to extract useful precious metal materials and prevent harmful materials from polluting the environment. Among the three ways, about 20% of mobile phones are used for resale, 60% are sold to major offline mobile phone recycling agencies through auction, and about 30% of mobile phones are degraded by environmental protection.
"The real environmental protection is not to smash it and refine metal, but to make the best use of it." Chen Xuefeng said that "making the best use of everything" is the environmental protection concept that Aihui has always adhered to, and sharing its idle items is the core concept of sharing economy and the lifestyle that he has always advocated. All the second-hand electronic products sold on AI recycling platform come from their own normal recycling channels. The quality inspection team selects the best quality electronic products with good appearance and no damage, which are suitable for re sale. After simple cleaning treatment, they strictly abide by the principle of reasonable pricing in the second-hand market, and then sell them at a clear price“ On the one hand, let the value of high-quality second-hand electronic goods continue, on the other hand, do a good job in second-hand electronic sales can also reduce the generation of e-waste in society. " Chen Xuefeng said. In addition to personal use, AI recycle also provides batch purchase of it testing machines for start-ups and software development engineers to help enterprises reduce the investment cost of IT equipment.
In March 2012, Aihui received US $2 million in round a financing, US $10 million in round B financing in July 2014, and US $60 million in round C financing in July 2015. It is worth mentioning that Aihui has received investment from the world bank. Chen Xuefeng said that the world bank's investment preference is the combination of business, environmental protection and public welfare. It will not invest in pure commercial companies and pure public welfare institutions. Love recycling is in line with their choice. Its commercial value and environmental protection value have been recognized by the world bank, and it has been invested at the most critical moment of the company's development.
The world bank also brings a lot of resources for recycling. Chen Xuefeng said that the world bank has invested in a company specialized in metal refining and environmental protection dismantling in India, and this company has also become their partner“ Our used mobile phones are all given to this company for disposal, thus forming an environmental protection closed loop. " Chen Xuefeng said.
In addition, the world bank also introduced many large-scale foreign enterprises to carry out activities such as environmental protection recycling day with AI recycling, and called on enterprises and their employees to recycle and manage electronic products and other wastes, which has achieved good results“ Next, we will launch a "green office" project to recycle computers, laptops, servers, office furniture or other waste products that enterprises regularly eliminate. This project will also be supported by a lot of resources from the world bank and IFC. " Chen Xuefeng.
With the rapid development of science and technology, there are more and more kinds of electronic products, and all kinds of intelligent hardware devices are dazzling. Recently, AI recycle cooperated with Dajiang and began to recycle and sell second-hand UAVs, which was very popular. Chen Xuefeng said that in the future, AI recycle will also expand to the category of intelligent hardware products, such as UAV, Kindle, GoPro, VR equipment, balance car, intelligent bicycle, etc., which are all within the scope of AI recycle's immediate expansion. In addition, love recycling is also making attempts in all aspects, hoping to provide a full range of recycling programs, such as mobile phone digital products, home appliances, children's maternal and child products and even household waste recycling, so as to minimize resource waste and environmental pollution and implement the principle of "making the best use of everything".