Environmental protection will play a vital role in sustaining China’s economic development

According to Chen Shouping, deputy of the 10th National People’s Congress, “Environmental protection will play a vital role in sustaining China’s economic development over the next 20 years, which is the time frame that China has targeted for its plans to build a xiaokang, or healthy, society”. It is true that the chemical industry is often accused of generating pollution Mr. Chen’s statement has solicited interest from the upper levels of the Chinese Administration which considers that “polluters must compensate for the losses caused by any illegal behavior”.

However, despite numerous US EPA-inspired environmental regulations established in the early 90’s, Chinese polluters chose largely to ignore them since punishment for wrong-doing was often minimal. Foreign entities operating in China, however, have no choice but to comply fully with the legislation. Time is running out for Chinese chemical companies who wish to clean up their activities: the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing along with the Universal fair in Shanghai will accelerate a number of positive, clean-up initiatives.

All majors companies must reduce the environmental impact of their operations.

Indeed, environmental accidents often adversely impact share value since clean-up costs incurred by the polluting company are often significant.
Companies need to acknowledge that environmental risks extend well beyond the boundaries of their sites. They must take all necessary precautions to ensure that neither people living in close proximity to their sites nor the surrounding environment are endangered by their industrial operations.
All releases and the resulting repercussions are tracked, measured and filed. Improvement objectives are defined in conjunction with investment and action plans. The release of greenhouse gases (CO2 and NO2 emissions) and tropospheric ozone-generating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are often stringently controlled by directives. Protecting water resources is also an important objective. As such, many plants have been equipped with release retention basins to minimize the risks of soil contamination, as much as possible.