Strict controls help clear the air

Companies look ahead to cleaner business

In 2014, I visited many power plants, cement factories and steel companies in Beijing and Hebei province, areas that suffered from severe air pollution, accompanying environmental protection authorities as they made their inspections.

When heavy smog shrouded many cities, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, it was a call for me to prepare to cover stories about the pollution's influence on residents' lives, the technology used to minimize pollutants and what companies and governments were doing to resolve the issue.

Local governments worked hard to curb air pollution as the central government subsidized efforts to reduce harmful emissions and the nation's top legislature passed a law to grant more power to environmental authorities. There have even been volunteers in every village in Hebei province to monitor air quality since the second half of the year.

Joining the authorities as they made their inspections of companies in sectors that are known for being heavy polluters gave me access to other stories.

In many such companies that meet the national standards for emissions, the workshops are not dusty and dirty as many people imagine, but have a clean working interior similar to a college campus, said Yu Genmao, manager of Shijiazhuang Iron & Steel.

The company has adopted advanced technologies and installed equipment to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide at its plant in the downtown area of Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei.

It also started in October to relocate to a neighboring county, as the province bans steel plants in the city.

In addition, 17 cement plants in Shijiazhuang were demolished in February 2014 as part of moves to dismantle 15 million metric tons of cement production capacity in the province by 2017.

Wang Jiangtao, marketing manager at Yuancheng Construction Material, one of the 17 facilities that were demolished, said he was sad to see the plant destroyed by explosions as it had introduced new equipment in 2011 and the investment had not yet been recouped.

I listened to the stories of Wang and others in the industry as they spoke of losing their plants while expressing hope for a better future.

"We know that cement plants are bad for air quality and support the demolitions, and besides, we now have better opportunities," he said.

There is always a window open when the door is shut, Wang said.