China to unveil new plans major to cut steel mill pollution
South China Morning Post reported that according to a draft plan issued by the government to clean up its smoke-stack industries, roughly half of China’s steelmaking capacity would have to comply with tough new emissions targets by 2020. Ministry of Ecology and Environment documents outlines that the plan would require 480 million tonnes of annual capacity in the world’s top steel producer to meet ultra-low emissions standards by 2020. The emissions target would rise to 900 million tonnes by 2025.”
The draft set a 2020 deadline for mills around the capital Beijing, the northern port city of Tianjin and Hebei province, the country’s top steelmaking region, to meet the new standards. However, the Hebei cities of Tangshan and Handan, where hundreds of steel plants are located, may apply for an extension until 2022.
It said these cities faced a heavy task to complete ultra-low emission upgrading. The new targets will require steel mills to install more filtering and dust extraction equipment and use a higher grade of raw materials to curb emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particulate matter.
Mills that completed the upgrading will receive preferential treatment on electricity rates and taxes, and face lower capacity restrictions during the winter
The draft plan is the latest move against major polluters in Beijing’s anti-smog campaign, which aims to cut emissions of damaging PM2.5 air particles so small they can pass through humans’ lungs and affect other organs.
Source : South China Morning Post