From June 2009 to December 2011, the Chinese government implemented a national “Home Appliance
Old for New Rebate Program” (hereafter referred to as the "Old for New Program") in order to stimulate
both the buying of new home appliances and the proper recycling of old appliances (more details
about this national project are provided in section 5.1.2.). This program first launched as a pilot in nine
cities and provinces deemed to be more economically developed than other regions. Only authorized
collectors – including home appliance retailers, chain stores, supermarkets, waste collection companies
and logistics companies – were allowed to participate in this rebate program, through which they
received collection subsidies from the government. These authorized collectors were eligible to take
back old appliances from consumers and to issue discount coupons to these consumers in order to
reward their participation in the project.