The Strategy to Promote the “Win–Win” Development of Economy …
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solve the problem of structural pollution in traditional industries like papermaking.
However, there are national standards for the pollutant discharge of almost every
polluting industry. According to the standards, the polluting industry can “legally”
discharge more pollutants than other industries without being held accountable. For
example, the national standard for the paper industry stipulates that the COD emission limit is 450 mg/L, higher than the COD concentration in the untreated urban
sewage. The drainage volume of papermaking enterprises is generally as high as tens
of thousands of tons, even hundreds of thousands of tons, leading to the catastrophe
that “a paper mill contaminates a river.” The people on both sides and along the lower
reaches of the river were suffering from pollution. The environmental problems gave
rise to intense social conflicts. Meanwhile, the paper industry itself was plagued
by environmental problems as well, struggling to make headway. With the support
of the provincial government, the Shandong provincial environmental protection
department proposed to formulate and gradually tighten local environmental standards in phases, in a bid to gradually abolish the pollution discharge privileges of
heavily-polluting industries within eight years. They developed their own approach
of water environment governance to fulfill the goal of “livable water environment
for fishes in the rivers.”
2. Process
In 2003, Shandong Province started from the paper industry that caused the heaviest contamination and launched the first local environmental standard in China—
Shandong Provincial Standard for the Discharge of Wastewater Pollutants for Paper
Industry. Since then, Shandong Province has embarked on a new path of promoting
industrial transformation and restructuring through environmental standards. The
standard is implemented in four stages. In the first stage, starting from May 1, 2003,
the COD concentration in the wastewater from straw-pulp papermaking shall not
exceed the standard limit of 420 mg/L, which is slightly stricter than the original
national standard of 450 mg/L. It sent a clear signal to the industry that “standards
are about to be tightened.” In the second stage, starting from January 1, 2007, the
standards were substantially tightened, setting the upper limit of the COD concentration in wastewater from straw-pulp papermaking to be 300 mg/L. Companies
with larger scale and more advanced technology and equipment are capable of
meeting the discharge standards, while those incapable companies took the initiative to adjust structure. In the third stage, four comprehensive basin-based discharge
standards covering the entire territory of Shandong Province were issued, including
the Comprehensive Discharge Standard of Water Pollutants along the Route of
South-North Water Diversion Project in Shandong Province. The first phase of the
basin-based standards is connected with the third phase of water pollutant discharge
standards for the paper industry. In this way, the industrial emission standards are
docked with comprehensive basin-based discharge standards. The COD concentration of wastewater discharged from straw-pulp papermaking is subject to the standard limit of 150–300 mg/L. In the fourth stage, starting from January 1, 2010, all
enterprises within the province’s river basins were subject to the unified pollutant
307
solve the problem of structural pollution in traditional industries like papermaking.
However, there are national standards for the pollutant discharge of almost every
polluting industry. According to the standards, the polluting industry can “legally”
discharge more pollutants than other industries without being held accountable. For
example, the national standard for the paper industry stipulates that the COD emission limit is 450 mg/L, higher than the COD concentration in the untreated urban
sewage. The drainage volume of papermaking enterprises is generally as high as tens
of thousands of tons, even hundreds of thousands of tons, leading to the catastrophe
that “a paper mill contaminates a river.” The people on both sides and along the lower
reaches of the river were suffering from pollution. The environmental problems gave
rise to intense social conflicts. Meanwhile, the paper industry itself was plagued
by environmental problems as well, struggling to make headway. With the support
of the provincial government, the Shandong provincial environmental protection
department proposed to formulate and gradually tighten local environmental standards in phases, in a bid to gradually abolish the pollution discharge privileges of
heavily-polluting industries within eight years. They developed their own approach
of water environment governance to fulfill the goal of “livable water environment
for fishes in the rivers.”
2. Process
In 2003, Shandong Province started from the paper industry that caused the heaviest contamination and launched the first local environmental standard in China—
Shandong Provincial Standard for the Discharge of Wastewater Pollutants for Paper
Industry. Since then, Shandong Province has embarked on a new path of promoting
industrial transformation and restructuring through environmental standards. The
standard is implemented in four stages. In the first stage, starting from May 1, 2003,
the COD concentration in the wastewater from straw-pulp papermaking shall not
exceed the standard limit of 420 mg/L, which is slightly stricter than the original
national standard of 450 mg/L. It sent a clear signal to the industry that “standards
are about to be tightened.” In the second stage, starting from January 1, 2007, the
standards were substantially tightened, setting the upper limit of the COD concentration in wastewater from straw-pulp papermaking to be 300 mg/L. Companies
with larger scale and more advanced technology and equipment are capable of
meeting the discharge standards, while those incapable companies took the initiative to adjust structure. In the third stage, four comprehensive basin-based discharge
standards covering the entire territory of Shandong Province were issued, including
the Comprehensive Discharge Standard of Water Pollutants along the Route of
South-North Water Diversion Project in Shandong Province. The first phase of the
basin-based standards is connected with the third phase of water pollutant discharge
standards for the paper industry. In this way, the industrial emission standards are
docked with comprehensive basin-based discharge standards. The COD concentration of wastewater discharged from straw-pulp papermaking is subject to the standard limit of 150–300 mg/L. In the fourth stage, starting from January 1, 2010, all
enterprises within the province’s river basins were subject to the unified pollutant