Wednesday 6th of September, our office in China has been awarded Circular Economy Pioneer 2023 by European Chamber. This award category was new this year and it was created to recognize high-performing companies in the circular economy.
Proud
We are proud that we have received this award for our remarkable results in waste reduction, energy conservation, emissions reduction and our commitment to promote circular economy and sustainable development in our business operations.
Winners
Our office in China was awarded Circular Economy Pioneer 2023 due to Jieyang (China’s first major Green Fuel MBT facility, taking out valuable recyclables and optimally drying the waste before incineration). Marjo Crompvoets, Consul General of the Netherlands in Shanghai, presented the trophy and certificate to Jimmy Liang, Managing Director of WTT China.
The other 4 winners are Philips China, Veolia, Lindstrom and Boehringer Ingelheim China.
European Chamber Sustainable Business Award
Since being established in 2017, the European Chamber Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) have been continuously improving, growing, and promoting awareness of sustainability in business. The circular economy is a key contributor to sustainable development, containing great commercial and social value for companies.
Circular Economy Action Plan
In March 2020, the European Commission adopted the New Circular Economy Action Plan. As one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal, it aims to reduce pressure on natural resources and to create sustainable growth and jobs.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission
In 2021, China’s National Development and Reform Commission issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Circular Economy, proposing the basic establishment of a resource-recycling industrial system by 2025.
Jieyang MBT Plant
State-of-art
As the winning case, Jieyang MBT Plant implements the state-of-art mechanical and biological technologies. After the combination of mechanical and biological process, 1 ton RDF, as the final product with lower moisture and higher calorific value, generates electricity above 700 kWh via the grate furnace compared to 400 kWh generated by raw MSW without MBT treatment.
Treatment
A comprehensive mechanical treatment line using screening, magnetic separation, eddy current separation and optical separation was designed to recover Fe/non-Fe metals and plastics to bring extra revenues and remove PVC (main source of dioxin) from the final product to reduce damage to the incinerator.
By products
In addition, by-products are also designed in maximum resource recovery to achieve circularity. For example, the effluent from acid scrubber, mainly (NH4)2SO4 can be used as liquid fertilizer for agriculture.
Profitable and sustainable alternative
Due to decreasing subsidies on incineration and market focus shift to county-level projects, Chinese investors and operators started to seek for a more profitable and sustainable alternative that requires less CAPEX, OPEX and GHG emissions compared to incineration.
MBT
Thus, MBT seems to be a promising candidate for the potential county-level market since the existing power plants, cement plants and other facilities can be continuously fed with high-quality green fuel to achieve full waste-to-energy utilization.
No repeated investment
No repeated investment is required, hence avoiding the “not in my backyard” effect and saving land resources. Also, carbon emission credits earned by fossil fuel replacement could generate additional green revenue in a foreseeable future.
Special thanks
Last but not least, special thanks go to the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Guangzhou and Consulate General of the Netherlands in Shanghai for their continuous support during the Jieyang project execution.