Chinese Researchers Help Paper Mill Realize Zero Waste Discharge

 

According to a report this week by Shanghai Daily, Shanghai, China, Chinese researchers have achieved the breakthroughs necessary for zero waste paper plants, significant for environmental protection.

Xu Nanping of the Chinese Academy of Engineering told the state press agency that treatment film filtering technology has turned the 32,000-metric tons of wastewater discharged by Jiangsu Oji Paper Co. each day into clean water, industrial salt, and dried mud.

It took Nanping and his team from Nanjing Technological University nine months to design the equipment. The project is managed by a local water treatment firm and has been running successfully since January 2014.

"Zero discharge of pulping waste water is unprecedented," said Oshima Tadashi, deputy general manager of Jiangsu Oji, a Japanese company with an investment of nearly $2 billion.

AS noted in the articled, paper mills end up identified as polluters because of a common practice to discharge waste into rivers or the sea after treatment. The Oji plant once planned to discharge wastewater into the Yellow Sea via a pipeline, but the project was canceled due to protests by people living along the coast. However, the recycling project cost half as much as the pipeline was expected to and its operation costs are 30% lower.

Currently, Oji Paper buys back 12,000 metric tons of reclaimed water from the treatment company every day. The recycled water is also bought by other companies. The quality of the water is better than that taken directly from the Yangtze or even tap water in terms of major quality indices, said Wang Chaohui, director of the area's environmental protection bureau.