Building a recycling economy

Northeast China's Liaoning Province has attached great importance to the development of the "venous industry," aiming to build an ecology friendly economy.

"Venous industry" refers to industries that turn solid industrial waste into reusable resources, which will then be used in production once again. It involves two processes: going from solid wastes to raw materials, and from raw materials to finished products.

"The 'venous industry' fundamentally resolves the conflict between economic development and environmental protection, and it is an effective way to develop a recycling economy," said Dai Baoyi, deputy secretary-general of the Liaoning Eco-Industries Association.

Industry parks

Therefore, the province has set up the Liaoning Venous Industry Park, which has a planned area of about 133 hectares around cities of Tieling, Shenyang and Fushun.

The park's first two eco-industrial projects have recently begun construction, expected to be complete by 2015.

One of the projects is for the treatment of discarded batteries, while the other is for the treatment and recycling of discarded tires and plastic waste. The two projects have a combined investment value of 116.8 million yuan.

"The newly introduced projects will help the province deal better with solid wastes. And the development of the 'venous industry' will also help us better revitalize the old industrial base," said Dai.

According to Dai, other ecological industrial parks have also started initial construction in Yingkou, Dandong, Tieling and Shenyang.

"We are going to build the Liaoning Venous Industry Park into an international exchange base for discarded goods treatment and a technology research and development center for solid wastes," Dai noted.

As one of the old industrial bases in Northeast China, Liaoning has a history of relying heavily on production-oriented industries, which has led to excessive energy consumption and produced a large amount of industrial waste.

"The old industrial mode has greatly hampered the province's efforts to revitalize its economy. So an ecological economic growth mode is very essential to enhance its overall development," said Meng Yao, an official with the Liaoning Provincial Eco-Economy Development and Research Committee.

China, which began to develop the "venous industry" early in 1950s, has seen steady growth in the sector.

The re-use rate of solid industrial waste has increased from 30 percent in 1990 to 56.1 percent in 2005, according to government sources.

"As a pilot to implement the ecological economy strategy, Liaoning has always attached great importance to 'venous industry' development," Meng added.

Meng praised the Liaoning Venous Industry Park as a strong engine for the province to realize sustained economic and social development.

A strong engine

"The industrial park will ensure a better living environment for local residents and help save land because the discarded industrial wastes occupy many land resources," Meng pointed out.

Development of the venous industry park is just part of the Liaoning provincial government's efforts to develop an environmentally friendly economy, as the province has named the ecological industry as one of its pillar industries during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010).

During the period, Liaoning will earmark up to 120 billion yuan for environmental protection, mainly involving the prevention of water and air pollution and recycling of solid industrial wastes, sources with the provincial government said.

An innovation center for environmentally friendly industries will also be built at the Liaoning Environment Science Park, which will introduce 10 ecological industrial projects annually during the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

By 2010, Liaoning is expected to develop 50 kinds of ecological products, each of which will have annual business revenue of up to 50 million yuan.

It is also predicted that the business revenue of eco-industries in the province will reach 100 billion yuan by 2010.

(China Daily 09/06/2007 page57)