Recently, a consumer, Ms. Wang, reported on social media that she placed an order through Lvjuneng Recycling to dispose of old clothes. Several days after the items were collected, the platform showed the order as completed, but she did not receive the corresponding recycling settlement payment.

In response, staff from Lvjuneng Environmental Technology (Yunnan) Group Co., Ltd. told a reporter from Xiaoxiang Morning News · Morning Video that old clothes recycling is subject to the inspection results of the platform's partner warehouses. Ms. Wang's order was not settled by the warehouse because it did not meet the warehouse's inspection standards. The staff member also said that the order page already indicated that clothes not meeting the warehouse's recycling requirements would not be returned.

When the reporter further asked why restrictions were placed on "old-style" clothes, what the final use of the recycled clothes would be, and whether they would enter a resale channel, the staff member said he was not clear and that the relationship with the recycling warehouse was merely one of cooperation. "I only know they recycle old clothes... what they take them for and how they handle them, we don't know."

On the old clothes recycling order page of the Lvjuneng Recycling mini-program, the reporter saw that the recycling price was marked as "mixed goods 0.50 yuan/kg"; at the bottom of the page, in the "FAQ" section, it stated: "Unqualified items will not be settled and will not be arranged for return."

Lawyer Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, analyzed that old clothes are the private property of consumers. If the clothes do not meet the recycling standards, the transaction has not been established, ownership still belongs to the consumer, and the platform has an obligation to return the bailed property and cannot exempt itself in advance through a standard-form contract. He further pointed out that even if the platform has prompted this clause, its content unreasonably excludes the consumer's main right to the return of property; according to Article 497 of the Civil Code, if the party providing the standard terms unreasonably exempts or reduces its own liability, increases the other party's liability, or limits or excludes the other party's main rights, the standard terms are invalid. Fu Jian said that the platform has no right to detain the clothes and should negotiate shipping costs with the consumer and return all old clothes.

For the old clothes recycling industry, this dispute exposes a long-standing gray area in online recycling platforms regarding "inspection standards" and "disposal of unqualified items": the final destination of the clothes is left to partner warehouses, while after failed inspection there is neither settlement nor return. This easily triggers consumer disputes and may also be deemed invalid at the level of standard terms. Against the backdrop of continuously expanding recycling volumes, how platforms clarify inspection standards, disclose the destination of clothes, and provide a reasonable return path is becoming an unavoidable operational issue.

Source: Consigned old clothes judged unqualified, Lvjuneng accused of 'freeloading' by neither settling nor returning them, platform responds · Originally published on 2026-09-11