Nestled among the Wumeng Mountains, two 660MW high-efficiency ultra-supercritical circulating fluidized bed coal-fired generating units stand side by side, marking the world's first and largest installation of its kind, notably without an external bed. On July 6th, at midnight, Unit 2 completed a 168-hour full-load trial run and entered commercial operation. "Both units utilize advanced ultra-supercritical CFB clean coal combustion technology, primarily fueled by low-calorific-value coal like coal slime and gangue, consuming over 3.6 million tons annually with a co-firing ratio of 70%," stated Duan Yunlong, Chief Engineer of PowerChina Panzhou Low-Calorific-Value Coal Power Co., Ltd.

During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Guizhou is intensifying efforts to enhance its waste recycling systems and expand the substitution of renewable resources. The Panzhou project's deep extraction of value from bulk solid waste like coal gangue exemplifies Guizhou's strategy of cultivating the circular industry into a key growth driver for new quality productive forces. Coal gangue, essentially black waste rock removed during coal mining and washing, is being transformed—a story of "turning waste into gold" that now extends beyond thermal power plants. At Jinsha County Xinghe Mineral Products Processing Co., Ltd., black coal gangue is processed through crushing, grinding, gravity separation, and flotation to produce high-grade sulfur concentrate with a sulfur content of 45%. Qin Dajiang, the company's Deputy General Manager of Production, noted that domestic production of this concentrate is mainly concentrated in Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Anhui, all far from Guizhou. Additionally, with some enterprises using sulfur-based acid production and China's sulfur import dependence exceeding 50%, the product has been in high demand since its launch. Currently, several provincial enterprises have established a closed-loop "coal gangue-sulfur concentrate-fine chemical" system, with the province's total sulfur concentrate output reaching 235,500 tons in 2025, effectively filling the supply gap for chemical raw materials.

While finding a solution for coal industry solid waste, Guizhou has also addressed the "chronic problem" of the phosphorus chemical sector. At Guizhou Phosphate Group's Fuquan base, the world's largest phosphorus gypsum decomposition acid production and cementitious material co-production unit consumes 1.4 million tons of phosphorus gypsum annually, yielding 650,000 tons of sulfuric acid for the group's phosphate production lines and 800,000 tons of cementitious materials for downstream building materials markets, thus establishing a dual-channel consumption pathway of "internal reuse and external sales." With every ton of phosphoric acid produced generating 4 to 5 tons of phosphorus gypsum, the industry leader Guizhou Phosphate Group began research on comprehensive utilization back in 2005. After over 20 years of sustained research and nearly 4 billion yuan in investment, they have developed a resource-based, coupled utilization system. Leveraging high-value phosphorus gypsum technology, Guizhou has diversified into consumer products. Guizhou Gaosi Siwei Technology Co., Ltd. uses washed phosphorus gypsum from the group to produce dust-free, antibacterial pet litter. Company head Qiu Yujian explained that, supported by Anshun University's expert team over five years of research, the finished litter contains over 80% phosphorus gypsum, achieving rapid clumping in 3 seconds, 24-hour odor control, and heavy metal and radioactivity indicators far superior to national pet product standards. To date, Guizhou has built approximately 30 phosphorus gypsum utilization projects, forming six major pathways including new building materials, cement retarders, underground filling, decomposition acid production, ecological restoration, and packaging materials, thereby initially establishing a comprehensive industrial chain.

As traditional industrial and mining solid waste recycling advances steadily, Guizhou is simultaneously positioning itself in the circular economy for new energy-related emerging waste, with leading enterprises driving an ecosystem-wide upgrade. The province is optimizing industrial park layouts, accelerating circular transformation demonstrations in national-level parks such as Dalong Economic Development Zone, Panzhou Hongguo Economic Development Zone, Liupanshui High-tech Zone, Xixiu Industrial Park, and Zunyi Economic Development Zone, and creating centralized resource recovery and reprocessing hubs. In mid-June, Zhongwei New Materials Co., Ltd., headquartered in Dalong Economic Development Zone, showcased its capabilities at the 2026 European E-waste World Congress and Battery Recycling Expo. The company's battery recycling expert, Eljay Lee, emphasized that battery recycling has become a strategic pillar for building a sustainable and resilient battery supply chain. Currently, Zhongwei's wholly-owned subsidiary, Guizhou Zhongwei Resource Recycling Industry Development Co., Ltd., has established pretreatment capacity for 30,000 tons of retired batteries and electrode sheets, smelting capacity for 25,000 tons of ternary black mass, and annual echelon utilization processing capacity of 100 MW. Also in Dalong, Guizhou Hongxing Electronic Materials Co., Ltd., a national-level "green factory," is poised to launch a new waste lithium battery recycling production line. Once fully operational, its annual processing capacity for waste lithium batteries will triple to 43,900 tons, with lithium recovery rates exceeding 95%. With the nation designating the "new three kinds" of solid waste—retired power batteries, photovoltaic modules, and wind turbine blades—as core drivers for circular economy growth in the "15th Five-Year Plan," Guizhou is accelerating the implementation of projects for graded recovery and echelon utilization of retired storage equipment, PV panels, and blades, while promoting the recycling of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and precious metals and the standardized recovery of waste lithium batteries.

At the end of June, the National Development and Reform Commission officially issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development," setting a target for the annual comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste to reach 4.5 billion tons by 2030, with the resource recycling industry's output value growing to 8 trillion yuan and major resource productivity rising by about 16% compared to 2025. As the "15th Five-Year Plan" begins, Guizhou is drafting a high-quality industrial green and low-carbon development plan, detailing pathways for comprehensive utilization of bulk industrial solid waste and renewable resources. The province's "Peak Carbon Action Plan" has deployed "ten major actions," including circular economy support for carbon reduction. Provincial-level zero-carbon park development has also commenced, with plans to select and cultivate around 10 parks annually from 2026 to 2030. Financial support is concurrently being injected; as of the end of the first quarter, green loans from Guizhou banks have exceeded 63 billion yuan. With coordinated efforts from policy guidance, industrial practice, and financial backing, Guizhou is steadily advancing towards its 2030 goals of utilizing 110 million tons of bulk solid waste and recycling 2.5 million tons of nine major renewable resources, creating new industrial growth through circularity.