The present invention provides a memory resource management method and apparatus. The method includes: first, determining a recyclable cache unit according to first indication information and second indication information that correspond to each cache unit, where the first indication information and the second indication information both include at least one bit, the first indication information indicates whether the cache unit is occupied, and the second indication information indicates a quantity of cache unit recycling periods for which the cache unit has been occupied; and then, recycling the recyclable cache unit. A quantity of cache unit recycling periods is set, and when a time for which a cache unit has been occupied reaches the preset quantity of cache unit recycling periods, the cache unit is forcibly recycled, thereby effectively improving cache unit utilization and improving system bandwidth utilization.