Petrochemical plant revitalizes barren land in Xinjiang's Dushanzi

The Dushanzi petrochemical plant, a subsidiary of the central State-owned company China National Petroleum Corp, held a news conference on Friday introducing its green and low-carbon progress in the Dushanzi district of Karamay, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The day marked the annual World Environment Day.

Located in the Gobi Desert, Dushanzi is an industrial- and mining-oriented urban area with arid conditions, scarce rainfall, severe soil salinization and fragile ecology. The petrochemical industry has revitalized this once barren land.

Since 2015, the plant has been adding greenery, cutting pollution and carbon emissions, reducing energy consumption while improving efficiency.

The company said from 2016 to 2020, it invested 2.3 billion yuan ($340 million) in building and upgrading environmental protection facilities. Between 2021 and 2025, it added another 720 million yuan to carry out 45 environmental protection projects covering air, water and soil. In March, the company was named a "National Green Factory" for 2025 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

To eliminate odors and improve air quality, the company has upgraded technology to cut gas pollutant emissions and deployed intelligent equipment such as laser radar and gas cloud imaging to build a plant-wide monitoring system for volatile organic compounds. This system enables around-the-clock, real-time detection, precise source tracing and dynamic control of waste gas emissions.

A closed-loop wastewater treatment and reuse system has significantly increased water recycling and saved scarce water resources. A koi pond was built to visually demonstrate the treatment results.

Moreover, the company enhanced its closed-loop mechanism for reducing, reusing and rendering solid waste harmless, while tracking waste throughout its life cycle — from generation and collection to transport and disposal.

Qin Jun, the plant's general manager, said the company will remain rooted in Xinjiang, focus on its core petrochemical business and fulfill its social responsibilities as a central State‑owned enterprise, ensuring regional energy supply, pursuing green and low-carbon development and developing high-end new materials.

He added that the plant will further cut pollution, accelerate green upgrades and improve its ecology, aiming to become a benchmark green petrochemical facility in Northwest China's frontier regions in the new era.