YANJI, China, Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- RLX
Technology (NYSE:RLX) announced its Pods Recycling project to
invest 20 million yuan to recycle
used e-liquid pods in China and
make them into cement in its recent event held on 2nd September.
RLX, maker of RELX-branded vaporizers and e-liquid pods that it
only sells in China, together with
China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, will donate the
cement to China's rural areas to
build infrastructure such as road and bridges.
The Pods Recycling project will
officially launch in September starting from Beijing and gradually cover 10 Chinese cities
by next February. It aims to cover all RELX-branded stores in
China by the end of 2022. RLX will
collect not only its own used pods, but of all various
brands.
As vaping gains in popularity, how to deal with the used pods
has become a major concern for not only companies but users.
There are existing ways to process the used pods at present,
such as burning or burying as regular trash. But, according to Guo
Guangdong, Head of Public Relations and External Affairs of RLX, those measures cannot
solve the problem from the root as they cause secondary
environmental harm and produce no further economic value.
"Our goal was clear at the very first when we started the
project, we wanted a solution that can efficiently recycle the
materials and create more value," he said.
During the research, RLX found that although cement is mainly
made of limestone and clay, metal and other solid wastes also play
an indispensable role in cement
producing to optimize its functionality for various usages. The
materials of disposal pods can perfectly meet the requirement of
cement.
While the disposal pods can be fully recycled and re-used after
mixing into the raw materials of cement, the procedure largely
reduces the amount of ash and furnace slag than conventional ways
to process the pods.
Reusing the disposal pods is only the first step for RLX. How to
fulfil the company's social responsibility with the cement is the
second question RLX faces.
As one of the most essential materials for infrastructure,
cement is key to rural economy. Thus, RLX plans to donate the
cement with China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to
Chinese countryside to build roads, bridges, and clean lavatory to
improve the life of the rural residentials.
"Working with our users, it is one of the crucial ways for us to
fulfil our corporate social responsibility with our own industrial
characteristic," said Kate Wang, CEO
and founder of RLX.
From this September, users can receive a special recycling bag
in RELX-branded stores in China to
collect the pods and send back to the recycling bins placed in the
stores. RLX will also accept pods of various brands.
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SOURCE RLX Technology