China plans crackdown on illegal chemical dumping
- Environment ministry says all provinces must put monitoring systems in place over next six years
- Chemical industry has come under scrutiny after a blast at a plant in Jiangsu province killed 78 people
China will step up efforts to end the illegal dumping of hazardous chemical waste over the next six years, raising its monitoring and treatment capacity and blacklisting violators, the environment ministry said on Monday.
All regions must create a comprehensive hazardous chemical monitoring system by the end of 2025 and ensure they have sufficient treatment capacity, the ecology and environment ministry said in its notice on Monday.
Hazardous waste treatment will also be one of the criteria in a new corporate environmental credit system that will lead to public blacklisting and denial of financing for firms that violate rules, it added.
To improve waste management, local governments will also be encouraged to set up more integrated “industrial bases” in sectors such as petrochemicals and non-ferrous metals.
The ministry will also encourage the use of cement kilns or blast furnaces at steel plants to dispose of hazardous chemical waste.
The Yangtze River Delta, including the commercial hub of Shanghai and the neighbouring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, will be forced to adopt the measures by the end of next year, the ministry said.
Regions along the length of the Yangtze, together with the economic areas of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Pearl River Delta, will have to comply with the new rules by 2022.
The current safety crackdown on the chemical sector is already expected to force hundreds of smaller, private players out of the market, leading to consolidation.
The campaign should drive more efficient production practices and help modernise the huge but fragmented chemical industry, S&P Global Ratings said in a report on Monday.
