The Ministry of Environmental Protection has named 165 enterprises in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as being involved in the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) pollution control efforts. This has sounded the alarm for the petrochemical industry
On April 12, 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection released the results of the intensified supervision of air pollution control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, pointing out that 165 enterprises had incomplete or non-functional pollution control facilities, and some enterprises had inadequate treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The first central environmental protection inspection team provided feedback on the inspection results to Beijing, clearly stating that the air environmental governance situation in some areas and enterprises was severe. It specifically named Yan Shan Petrochemical as having a VOCs treatment and emission reduction project implemented in 2014, but as of the inspection time, three items were not operating normally, and the subordinate environmental monitoring unit had improper management.
The second central environmental protection inspection team also provided feedback on the inspection results to Shanghai. While affirming the progress made in promoting the comprehensive VOCs treatment and control for over 1,200 key industrial enterprises, it also pointed out that some key enterprises in Shanghai, such as Shanghai Petrochemical and Gaoshao Petrochemical, had not completed the VOCs treatment tasks on time.
Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining "surprised" the rubber factory of Yan Shan Petrochemical on April 4 and found that the data entry was incomplete and could not be retrieved, and there were odors present at the site. In response, on April 6, Yan Shan Petrochemical dismissed the head of the energy and environmental protection department of the company and the principal leaders of the rubber factory's party and government. Yan Shan Petrochemical has arranged for the complete shutdown and renovation of the two exhaust gas treatment devices of the rubber factory, and the renovation work must be completed by the end of 2017. On April 11, the 120,000-ton/year isoprene rubber production line of Yan Shan Petrochemical was shut down for rectification, with the operating load reduced to 50%, and the rectification period is expected to last until the end of the year; the rare earth isoprene rubber production line has also been shut down.
In fact, China has begun to deploy and promote VOCs treatment in recent years. The "Air Ten-Year Plan" issued by the State Council in 2013 clearly proposed to promote VOCs treatment, requiring comprehensive VOCs in key industries such as petrochemicals and organic chemicals， and implementing "leak detection and repair" technology transformation in the petrochemical industry. In 2014， the "VOCs Comprehensive Treatment Plan for the Petrochemical Industry" proposed that by 2017， the VOCs comprehensive treatment work in the petrochemical industry across the country would be basically completed， a VOCs monitoring and control system would be established， and the total VOCs emissions would be reduced by more than 30% compared to 2014. In 2016， the "Action Plan for Reducing VOCs Emissions in Key Industries" required that by 2018， the VOCs emissions of industrial enterprises would be reduced by more than 3.3 million tons compared to 2015， implementing raw material substitution projects， process technology transformation projects， and recovery and comprehensive treatment projects， etc.， as the main tasks.
As China's efforts to control air pollution have intensified， VOCs treatment will become the focus of the new stage of environmental protection governance. Local governments and environmental protection departments will undoubtedly increase supervision and penalties， and the VOCs emission reduction and control and clean production levels will become key factors for the survival and development of enterprises. The VOCs treatment market in China will also experience rapid growth， with the entire market size expected to reach tens of billions of yuan， especially in key industries such as petrochemicals and coal chemical industries， which are expected to become the for VOCs emission reduction and control.
