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Change of heart
By Chen Jialu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-28 10:36 Situated on the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers, Pangang also invested 204 million yuan for a waste-water treatment project, and now has reached the goal of zero-emissions of polluted industrial wastewater. As most of the steel production plants are constructed along the riverside of Jinsha River, Pangang has earmarked 21 million yuan to build a wall 550 meters long and 17 meters high to prevent the steel waste flowing into the river. Pangang Group Chengdu Iron & Steel Co, the group's seamless steel tube production unit, has said its total energy consumption was reduced from 1.54 million tons of coal equivalent to 1.19 tons from 2004 to 2007, and energy consumption fell from 2.38 tons of coal equivalent to 1.32 tons. Water consumption to produce a ton of steel declined from 12.4 tons to 8.18 tons. "In 1960s and 1970s , we never thought about saving water, since we have huge water resource in Jinsha River to utilize, or saving energy such as natural gas, since we have vast natural gas reservoir in Sichuan Basin, or the comprehensive utility of iron ore mines, since we have rich mineral resources in Panzhihua," says Fan. "In the past, we preferred to invest in new production lines rather than spending it on energy saving or emissions control technology," says Yu Zisu, general manager of Panzhihua Iron & Steel Group Co. Now, the environmental protection task is a top priority for every factory and company leaders, Yu says. The company says every senior management executives have signed a contract on their environmental obligations, and if their factory cannot reach certain standards on emission controls by the year's end, they face stiff punishments, including pay cuts or even firings. "The people who benefit the most from Pangang's environmental protection accomplishment are actually ourselves, since more than 90 percent residents living in Panzhihua are Pangang employees," says Zhou Yiping, vice-general manager of Panzhihua Iron & Steel Group Co. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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