Chemical companies need to roll up their sleeves and focus on environmental protection

It is necessary to comprehensively advance the control of pollution sources. Carry out special campaigns to address pollution in key industries. 24/7 online monitoring is implemented for all key industrial pollution sources. Set a clear deadline for enterprises that fail to meet emission standards to achieve compliance; those that still do not meet the standards by that date will be shut down in accordance with the law.

The environmental protection authorities recently issued the \"2017 Work Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas,\" which covers Beijing and Tianjin, as well as 26 cities in the provinces of Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi (2 + 26 cities). Since both Shandong and Hebei are major provinces in the chemical industry, and the prevention and control plans set clear requirements for this sector, the industries most affected are those involved in glyphosate, carbon black, pesticides, and ammonium glyphosate. The relevant companies include Xingfa Group, Heimao Co., Ltd., Hailier, Changqing Co., Ltd., and Lier Chemical. The specific measures mainly include the treatment of small-scale scattered pollution sources, emission permits, VOCs control, and staggered production during the heating season. The main factors that can directly lead to the closure of chemical enterprises are the control of small, scattered, and polluting facilities, as well as the implementation of staggered production schedules during the heating season. Management of small, scattered, and polluting enterprises: It is required to establish records by the end of March, and in some areas, the elimination of such illegal enterprises should be largely completed by the end of October. These small, scattered, and polluting enterprises mainly include those involved in rubber production, the chemical industry, and carbon production. Emission permits: Taking into account the characteristics of pollution emissions and local emission standards, various regions were among the first in the country to issue emission permits for industries such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, packaging and printing, and industrial coating. VOCs control: This mainly applies to the chemical industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides, with the requirement that remediation work be completed by the end of October. Production during off-peak periods in the heating season: Carbon-based enterprises that fail to meet the special emission limits must cease operations entirely, while those that do meet these limits must reduce their production by more than 50%, measured on a per-production-line basis. The VOC emission processes in pharmaceutical companies involved in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as those in pesticide companies that use organic solvents during production, should, in principle, cease operations during the heating season.

Such policies should have been implemented long ago; by focusing solely on boosting the economy, we have lost too much in terms of the environment – the rivers are no longer green, it’s no longer possible to swim in them, the sky is no longer blue, it’s hard to see the sun on clear days, and forests have disappeared. If people in big cities want to breathe some fresh air, they have to go to the suburbs. In many rural areas, groundwater is polluted, and the crops grown there cannot be consumed. There is still a great deal of work to be done to address this problem.

It was time to do this long ago; now it’s time to pay off the debts from before

It has indeed come to a point where action must be taken

The self-media outlets focused on the chemical and petrochemical industries all cover this topic in detail, as it is closely related to the chemical industry

Make efforts to pursue environmental protection to the end.