Dr Bing Zhu is the Director of the Institute for Circular Economy, a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and a Researcher at the Institute for State Governance and Global Governance at Tsinghua University. In addition, he serves as a Guest Senior Research Scholar at the Energy, Climate, and Environment Program of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. Prof. Zhu is also actively engaged in various professional services. He holds memberships in several prestigious organizations, such as the International Resource Panel (IRP) of the United Nations Environment Program and the Inter-Ministerial Panel of China on Circular Economy. Furthermore, he currently holds the position of Vice President of the Chinese Ecological Economics Society (CEES) and serves as the Chairman of its Circular Economy Committee. Prof. Zhu serves as an editorial board member for a number of international and Chinese journals, such as 'Technology in Society', 'Plastics', 'Green Petroleum and Petrochemicals (Chinese)', and 'Ecological Economics (Chinese)'. His research interests encompass resource efficiency, circular economy, industrial ecology, and chemical and energy techno-economics. As the Principal Investigator, his researches have been funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Development and Reform Commission of China, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, and others.

1985-1990 B.Eng., Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

1992-1995 M.Eng., Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

1997-2000 Ph.D, Department of Industrial Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology

1990-1992 Research Assistant, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

1995-1997 Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

1999 Research Assistant, Dynamic Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

2000-2002 Guest Researcher, Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology

2001-2002 Research Scholar, Energy Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

2003-2019 Guest Research Scholar, Energy Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

2003-2011 Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

2008-2017 Executive Deputy Director, Institute for Circular Economy, Tsinghua University

2011-present Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

2017-present Director, Institute for Circular Economy, Tsinghua University

2020-present Researcher, Institute of Sate Governance and Global Governance, Tsinghua University

2020-present Guest Senior Research Scholar, Energy, Climate, and Environment Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Resource Efficiency

Circular Economy

Industrial Ecology

Chemical and Energy Techno-Economics

1. Ren, Z., Jiang, M., Behrens, P.*, Chen, D., Mostert, C., Zhou, W., Li, C., Li, F., Liu, L., Wang, H., Xu, M., Hertwich, E., Bringezu, S., & Zhu, B.* (2025). Declining Demand and Circular Transition Possibilities of Sand, Gravel and Crushed Stone in China. Nature Communications, 16, 9294. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64349-3

2. Ren, Y., Zhu, H., Jiang, M.*, Cao, Y., Li, C., Yu, Y., Chen, D., Xu, M., Guo, B., & Zhu, B.* (2025). Filling the gaps: tracing 12 types of non-commodity plastics in China’s plastic socioeconomic metabolism. Environmental Science & Technology, 59(10), 5001-5011. doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c01174

3. Jiang, M., Cao, Y., Liu, C., Chen, D., Zhou, W., Wen, Q., Yu, H., Jiang, J., Ren, Y., Hu, S., Hertwich, E.*, & Zhu, B.* (2024). Tracing fossil-based plastics, chemicals and fertilizers production in China. Nature Communications, 15, 3854. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47930-0

4. Zhou, Z., Cao, Y., Du, Z., Jiang, M., Ren, Y., Li, C., Zhu, H., Chen, D., Yu, Y., Xu, M., Guo, B., He, Y., & Zhu, B.* (2025). Weaving through time: Stocks and flows of textile fibers in China (1978–2022). Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 223, 108522. doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108522

5. Jiang, M., Behrens, P., Yang, Y., Tang, Z., Chen, D., Yu, Y., Liu, L., Gong, P., Zhu, S., Zhou, W.*, Zhu, B.*, Tukker, A. (2022). Different material footprint trends between China and the world in 2007-2012 explained by construction- and manufacturing-associated investment. One Earth, 5(1), 109-118. doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.12.011

6. Jiang, X., Wang, T., Jiang, M., Xu, M., Yu, Y., Guo, B., Chen, D., Hu, S., Jiang, J., Zhang, Y., & Zhu, B.* (2020), Assessment of Plastic Stocks and Flows in China: 1978-2017.Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 161, 104969. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104969

7. Jiang, M., Behrens, P., Wang, T., Tang, Z., Yu, Y., Chen, D., Liu, L., Ren, Z., Zhou, W., Zhu, S., He, C., Tukker, A.*, & Zhu, B.* (2019). Provincial and sector-level material footprints in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(52), 26484–26490. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1903028116

8. Zhou, W., Zhu, B.*, Chen, D., Zhao, F., & Fei, W. (2014). How policy choice affects investment in low-carbon technology: The case of CO2 capture in indirect coal liquefaction in China. Energy, 73, 670–679. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2014.06.068

9. Zhou, W., Zhu, B.*, Li, Q., Ma, T., Hu, S., & Griffy-Brown, C. (2010). CO2 emissions and mitigation potential in China’s ammonia industry. Energy Policy, 38(7), 3701–3709. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2010.02.048

10. Zhou, W., Zhu, B.*, Fuss, S., Szolgayová, J., Obersteiner, M., & Fei, W. (2010). Uncertainty modeling of CCS investment strategy in China’s power sector. Applied Energy, 87(7), 2392–2400. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.01.013

First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in 2007

First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in 2013

First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation in 2014

First Prize of Science and Technology of China Association for Circular Economy in 2018