Environmental Modular Advanced Compact Systems (EMACS) for China



Project title: Environmental Modular Advanced Compact Systems (EMACS)
for China
Project leader: Prof. Dr. Dr. Karl-Ulrich Rudolph
Co-operation partner: Aqua Europa; CYIPEST; GITPC
Sponsor: EU Commission (EU Asia Invest)
Reference number: CN/ASIA-INVEST/030 (129-726)
Project term: February 2007 - April 2009


Project objectives

The main objective of the project is institutional capacity building of two Environmental Business Associations in China (CYIPEST in Yixing & GITPC in Shanghai) regarding the development, production, marketing and application of Environmental Modular Advanced Compact Systems (EMACS) adapted to the situation of polluting SMEs in China (PRC). China (PRC) has a rapidly growing community of SMEs active in a number of polluting sectors. To mitigate their environmental impacts, these SMEs need adapted and low cost pollution control systems best found in EMACS solution. Europe is the seat of numerous environmental technology developers. Some of these companies are interested in investing themselves further to address emerging environmental technology problems of SMEs in Asian countries including China (PRC).

The overarching objective of the project is to provide support to the China Yixing Industrial Park for Environmental Science and Technology (CYIPEST) in Yixing, Jiangsu Province and the Green Industry and Technology Promotion Center (GITPC) in Shanghai to help them design value adding support services to polluting SMEs in various industrial sectors. Its aim is to create practical success stories of application of EMACS in China that can allow a wide circle of Chinese SMEs to understand the value of efficient pollution control systems and offer them performing while low cost EMACS solutions marrying proved technology solutions from the EU with domestic production and assembling capacity in China.

Such assistance is expected to stimulate the dissemination of EU inspired EMACS models and solutions in China (PRC) and to mobilise the investment interest of EU EMACS providers and investors for this important emerging market. This is expected to encourage the development of co-operative business ventures between EU provider of environmental technology solutions and Chinese enterprising SMEs for the production of EMACS for the Chinese domestic market.

Project area

Town and village industrial enterprises (TVIEs) and middle and small scale enterprises although economically very significant have long slipped through the enforcement web of China's environmental protection. Due to the growing impact of water pollution on the capacity of the country to develop economically, this is now changing. SEPA and EPBs have started enforcing environmental regulation also for polluting SMEs. Yet very few SMEs have up to date water pollution control equipment and systems. Although pollution statistics relevant to TVIEs and SMEs are far from complete, there are strong indications that TVIE pollution share of total pollution discharges is increasing rapidly. In the year 2000 chemical oxygen demand discharge for TVIEs increased 36 percent over 1995, while the figures remained generally unchanged for SOEs.

Key polluting sectors to be addressed in the project includes the following:

Food Industry
Since the reform and opening of China, China food industry went with numerous up and down. The market has become very competitive and is still developing at a rapid pace. According to the statistics, there are nearly 20,000 food related enterprises in China. The sustained growth rate of food producing and processing is more than 10 %. In the past few years, the food industry in Shanghai and the Jiangsu province has been at the cutting edge of the food industry development trend. There are about 1,000 food-processing enterprises in Shanghai and as much in the surrounding counties of the Jiangsu Province. Most are SMEs with many problems such as small scale, backward production processes and serious environmental pollution especially due to high concentration of organic wastewater. Technologies used in the food industry for environmental mitigation of high concentration of organic wastewater are not mature and not very effective. The project will help introduce into China through practical, commercially driven pilot models wastewater treatment solutions that are low space, high efficiency, low operation cost solutions highly demanded in the Shanghai region and across China.

Electroplating Industry
The electroplating industrial sector is in China very strong, extensive and cross-sectoral. There are more than 20,000 electroplating industry enterprises in China and 400 enterprises in Shanghai alone. Many are small-scale. More than 1,000 enterprises in the sector have electroplating capacity of less than 500 m²/a. While a few of these enterprises being joint ventures with foreign partners have access to international advanced professional equipments and facilities, the vast majority are still using old equipment and outdated technology processes. Most of the production lines are semi-mechanized with semi-automatic control or even only manual operation. In electroplating production, chemicals, metals, water and energy are required in great quantity. Electroplating industry rejects large quantity of toxic heavy metal and heavily acidic or alkaline wastewater. A number of enterprises still use cyanic electroplating processes which generate particularly toxic wastewater. Now about 70~80% of cyanic electroplating enterprises have wastewater treatment facilities which do not really function effectively. Considering the size and the economic importance of the electroplating industry in China, it is important to introduce advanced, effective, while low cost wastewater treatment solutions as proposed in the project.

Service Industries
Per capita water resources in China are about 2,200 m&sub3;, about a quarter of the world average. With growing economic development, the demand for water is continuously increasing while water supply is declining constraining the future capacity of the country to develop further. The service industry especially hotels and baths are large users of water. There are more than 10,000 big hotels in China and the sector is growing at a yearly rate of about 18 %, 32 times more than 20 years ago. To tackle the water shortage China has begun to implement a series of policies and measures to save water, such as increasing the cost of water in large bathing places (which is now several times higher than for the general population) and encouraging minimal recycling ratio (up to 60 %) in areas in the north with significant water scarcity. These measures are driving the demand for effective technology solutions for so called grey water recycling that treat mildly polluted bath water for secondary usages like gardening or toilet flushing which are currently not really available in China.

Textiles
China's production of processed cotton products, including the dyeing of such products, is rising, resulting in increased industrial water consumption and wastewater discharge. Wastewater discharge pollution control discharge, water conservation, recycling and reuse technologies are all needed especially by SMEs companies