China Daily Global Edition (USA)
SHUTDOWN PROVIDES GREEN CATALYST
More than 130 heavily polluting plants have been removed from banks of Yangtze River
As he looked out across the Yangtze River, Dai Shengdong, a former employee of Tiantian Chemicals Co, spoke sentimentally about his former employer.
“We did pretty well, and we paid a lot of tax,” he said, standing near the company’s partially demolished fertilizer plant in Yichang, a city in Hubei province.
Despite his fond memories, the 50-something conceded that the decision to close the factory, which lay on the banks of the river, was the correct one.
Last year, the management of Tiantian Chemical agreed to cease production after the Yichang government formulated a three-year plan to get rid of chemical plants along the course of the Yangtze, especially those built within a kilometer of the river, and promote environmental protection.
In total, 134 chemical plants were affected by the plan; some would close, some would be relocated to one of two approved industrial parks that boast state-of-the-art waste treatment facilities, and others would be transformed into nonpolluting businesses.
Tiantian Chemical, located in Aijia township just 100 meters from the river’s south bank, was the first plant to close. Even though production ceased around a year ago, the walls of nearby buildings are still specked with stubborn stains.
In China, people usually hang clothes to dry in halfopen spaces at home, such as balconies, but that wasn’t an option for the 4,000 residents who lived near the plant, which produced synthetic ammonia and ammonium bicarbonate for agricultural use.
“Coal dust and particles pervaded the entire area. Now the factory has closed, people are happy to hang out their clothes,” said Li Haiyang, head of Aijia township. “Before, if I left my office door ajar for a few hours, a layer of dust would form on my desk. Now, even if I don’t wipe it for three or four days, the desk stays clean.”
Yichang is a major industrial hub on the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Thanks to an abundance of phosphorus ores and water resources in the area, the chemical industry was a main driver of the local economy for many years.
Two years ago, 134 chemical plants were spread along the river, employing 52,500 people and accounting for one-third of Yichang’s annual revenue.
While the location provided chemical companies with cheap, easy transportation options for their products, a lack of environmental regulations allowed the plants closest to the river to use the waterway as a dumping ground for wastewater and solid industrial waste.
However, as the main gateway to the Three Gorges stretch of the river and the Three Gorges Dam, the city has a pivotal role in the Yangtze’s environmental protection.
As a result, the Yichang government faced a dilemma. Should it allow the chemical industry to develop further and boost the local economy, or would it better to close the plants and protect the environment? Eventually, the city opted for environmental protection.
The decision saw 25 chemical plants close last year.
The financial loss was considerable as some of the factories generated annual revenue of more than 100 million yuan ($15.6 million) and paid more than 10 million yuan in taxes per year.
As a result, Yichang’s revenue declined by 9.7 percent and fixed asset investment fell by more than 19 percent.
“The chemicals sector was the city’s most important pillar industry, so the move to control the pollution it caused has affected the city’s economic development. That will continue for some time,” said Guo Kangxin, director of the Yichang development and reform commission.
“It is a painful part of the city’s transition. Hopefully, it won’t last for too long.”
Joint efforts
The move was in line with comments made by President Xi Jinping when he visited Yichang and Wuhan, capital of Hubei, in April to promote the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
Proposed in late 2016, the economic belt covers 11 provinces and municipalities, including Hubei, Hunan, Shanghai and Chongqing, and is home to about 40 percent of China’s population. The area also accounts for 40 percent of national GDP.
After spending two days visiting the Three Gorges Dam and cities along the river, Xi said joint efforts would be required to protect the aquatic environment. He also warned against excessive exploitation of the river’s resources.
Guo believes that environmental protection and economic develop- ment are not contradictory concepts — instead, they offer a chance for change.
Despite last year’s decline in revenue and investment, Yichang’s GDP growth began to pick up in the first quarter — although it was still lower than during the same period last year — thanks to the higher percentage of GDP generated by the manufacturing sector and service industry.
Moreover, the air quality in the city is already showing signs of improvement.
“In 2016, Yichang ranked at the bottom of the national air quality list. But last year, it improved greatly, and we recorded 258 days with ‘good’ air quality,” Guo said.
Hubei Sanning Chemical Industry Co, a private enterprise that has 10 billion yuan in assets and employs 5,000 people, is upgrading its manufacturing processes to raise standards and boost environmental protection.
Coping with change
The fertilizer factory has scrapped old equipment and installed new apparatus, such as a facility that transports coal in a sealed pipe to prevent air pollution.
The company is also focusing on upgrading its products, and has gradually transformed itself into a producer of high-end chemicals and compound fertilizers.
Last year, non-fertilizer chemical products accounted for almost 50 percent of its output.
At one time, the plant manufactured large quantities of superphosphate, a popular agricultural fertilizer.
“But when it burns, it produces a dusty red gas, which is difficult to control and pervades everything. It polluted the area badly, so we shut down the production line,” said Li Wanqing, the company’s chairman.
The company now plans to manufacture environmentally cleaner materials.
For example, it will invest 10 billion yuan to build a green production line for the production of ethylene glycol, an ingredient of polyesters used to make clothing.
Old ideas are also being challenged.
“A couple of decades ago, there were almost no environmental regulations governing companies, so we only thought of making products as cheaply as possible, as fast as possible, and then selling them as quickly as possible. Now the concept has changed. Safety and environmental protection are the foundations of the chemical industry’s development. Without environmental protection, the business will die,” Li said.
The company spends as much as 8 percent of its financial resources on environmental protection every year.
Meanwhile, Hubei Xingfa Chemical Group, which has assets of about 32 billion yuan and 10,500 employees and is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is focusing on using waste as a production resource to reduce pollution.
Song Guisheng, head of the office that oversees the group’s new materials park, said the company has installed a purification system that renders harmless the gases emitted when phosphorus is burned.
In addition, a new recycling facility allows wastewater, gases and solid waste to be recycled and used in the production process.
Li, from Hubei Sanning, said the production of chemicals consumes source ingredients and energy, which results in waste. Now, advanced technology not only reduces the volume of waste produced but also uses it to produce more goods.
The trend among companies in Yichang is to move into high-end products with better added-value and manufacture a greater range of products as a means of boosting profits.
For example, Hubei Sanning sold ammonium bicarbonate, a source of fertilizer, for about 600 yuan per metric ton, but the new ethylene glycol sells for 19,000 yuan a ton.
Business owners are profiting from the discovery of new products that has occurred as a result of their efforts to boost environmental protection. But for workers, the cleaner air they breathe is accompanied by uncertainty and inconvenience.
A new era
The closure of the Tiantian Chemical factory left people in Aijia township with the choice of either traveling to factories far from their homes, such as the one owned by Hubei Sanning, or resigning themselves to a lower standard of living.
The plant was the township’s major employer, and without it, only farm work remains.
While they wait for things to pick up, some people are existing on the compensation they received, which was based on their monthly salary and length of service. Each person received between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan on average.
Only about 50 former Tiantian employees took jobs at Hubei Sanning, according to Li, the township’s head.
Despite the recent downturn, Li is confident that the future is bright for local people.
“Part of the city’s plan is that our township will become part of a Central Business District in the future,” he said, noting that the abandoned cargo docks and factories will be replaced with new buildings.
Moreover, he said the CBD will employ many locals in the form of security guards, janitors and maintenance workers, and the influx of new people will provide more trade for businesses such as retailers and other local traders.
from the river has also been demolished.