China's tobacco industry is turning greener: it has launched a drive of green production and environmental protection in striving to develop resource-conserving and environment-friendly tobacco manufacturers.
Over recent years, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) - the regulator of China's tobacco industry - has issued a series of relevant regulatory rules, including the "Rules for Assessing Clean Production at Cigarette Making Enterprises"; the "Standards for Energy Consumption by Cigarette Making Enterprises" and the "Opinions on Energy Conservation and Cost-Reduction by Cigarette Making Enterprises" to promote steady development of green production and environmental protection.
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Official statistics show that the average unit energy consumption by Chinese cigarette making enterprises in 2007 was 43.2kg of standard coal per RMB10,000 (US$1,430) in terms of output value, down 33.9% from 2002, and 4.5kg of standard coal per 10,000 cigarettes in terms of output, down 39.2% from 2002. In the year, the average unit consumption of leaf tobacco in cigarette production by Chinese cigarette making enterprises was 7.1kgof leaf tobacco per 10,000 cigarettes, down 5.3% from 2002. Also in the year, the chemical oxygen demand and sulfur dioxide emission respectively went down 28.2% and 32.6% from 2005.
In 2007, the tobacco industry basically completed a seven-year project of technical transformation and freon substitution, with a total investment of US$360 million. In the fulfillment of this project, 58 enterprises dismantled all their 73 sets of freon cut tobacco expansion equipment, preventing the emission of 1,090 tons of freon annually, and saving environmental protection costs of US$15 million. As a result, the tobacco industry met the target of phasing out the use of freon in production three years ahead of schedule, and won praise from administrative authorities including the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
Freon is a type of full fluorochlorohudrocarbon, which is used by the tobacco industry for cut tobacco expansion. The tobacco industry first imported two sets of freon cut tobacco expansion equipment from the United States in 1987, initiating production of cut tobacco with freon as the medium.
At the same time, the tobacco industry invested heavily in a project of methyl bromide substitution, with the amount of investment in purchasing CFC-11 substitution equipment totaling US$360 million. In 2000, the tobacco industry consumed nearly 1,000 tons of methyl bromide in production. In 2004, it phased out the use of methyl bromide ahead of schedule, meeting its commitment to the international community of "cutting the annual consumption of methyl bromide to 275 tons after 2006." Presently, a second-stage project is being carried out smoothly.
While the tobacco industry was intensifying efforts to promote energy conservation and emission reduction, a large number of manufacturing and commercial enterprises succeeded in making improvement or progress in applying clean energy, reducing consumption, sewage treatment, industrial dust control, and so on, to varying extents.
For example, Shanghai Tobacco Group (STG) focused its energy on the research and development of paper-process reconstituted tobacco sheet production technologies, and managed to raise its annual consumption of tobacco sheet for cigarette production from less than 100 tons in the beginning to more than 4,000 tons by July 2007. In total, STG has so far consumed 17,000 tons of tobacco sheet for cigarette production, which is equal to 350,000 dan (17,500 tons) of leaf tobacco. Computed by the unit yield of 150kg of leaf tobacco per mu (per 0.067 hectare), the use of tobacco sheet has contributed to saving more than 110,000 mu (7,330 hectares) of cultivated land for tobacco growing.
[b]Environment-friendly[/b]
Many enterprises have increased the use of environment-friendly materials for cigarette production in an effort to reduce the potential negative environmental impact of raw materials.
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STG requires the packaging of all its cigarette products to be environment-friendly and nontoxic. The shiny and eye-catching packaging of all Chunghwa brand cigarettes produced by the group are subject to toxicological tests and certification by environmental protection authorities. More significantly, so far in 2008, STG has increased the use of vacuum aluminum-plated inner lining paper as an environment-friendly packaging material, has successively conducted tests on both soft packet and hard packet wrapping machines for its substitution of composite aluminum-foil paper, has strictly controlled the packaging cost and has increased the use of environment-friendly and degradable packaging materials.
In carrying out technical transformation projects, many cigarette manufacturers have given top priority to energy conservation and emission reduction.
In December 2007, Chin Tobacco of Guangzhou Industrial Corp. in south China's Guangdong province started building a new cigarette production base in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou. The company has adhered to the principle of "green construction" design and has applied a series of new technologies and materials for environmental protection, energy conservation and cost reduction, permitting a cut in investment of equipment and energy consumption and reduced environmental impact.
The indoor areas of the workshop buildings all have day-lighting covers scattered around, and each has a day-lighting cortile, or piazza, while the outdoor areas are equipped with solar energy street lamps and semiconductor illuminators to reduce energy consumption. Flexible processing technologies are applied and technological parameters are set scientifically, contributing to effective control and reduced energy consumption.
The production base is equipped with advanced world-class biological treatment systems, dust-compression equipment and environmental protection facilities and technologies for industrial water recycling, resulting in the maximum reduction of environmental impact. The plant also applies flat-bag-style high-efficiency dust-removal/dust-compression equipment, high-efficiency biological odor elimination technology, a solid waste classification and collection system, an industrial water recycling system, a system for the collection of sewage spread from fire accidents, sound insulation and absorption technology and comprehensive controls at noise sources and other environmental protection technologies.
In October 2007, STMA approved a relocation plan for subordinate Ulan Cigarette Factory of Hongyun Group in southwest China's tobacco-producing Yunnan province with a total investment of more than RMB400. The new Ulan Cigarette Factory will have an enlarged annual cigarette production capacity of 200,000 cases (10 billion cigarettes). This project was designed in accordance with the principles of sophistication, energy conservation and environmental protection.
[b]Advanced equipment[/b]
In conducting technical transformation in the 2001-2005 five-year period, Wuhu Cigarette Factory of China Tobacco of Anhui Industrial Corp. in east China's Anhui province invested heavily in importing advanced production equipment from foreign countries and in modifying its cigarette processing technologies. It succeeded in effectively controlling and reducing the discharge of solid wastes, waste water and waste gases, increasing the use of clean energy and environment-friendly raw materials, increasing comprehensive utilization of energy and raw materials and effectively reducing the consumption of energy and other resources.
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In reality, all processes of cigarette production may involve environmental protection, which is in conformity to the concept of clean production advocated by many cigarette manufacturers. The so-called clean production refers to reducing pollution from the source, raising the efficiency of resource utilization and reducing or avoiding the generation and discharge of pollutants during production, service or use of products through continued design improvement, use of clean energy and raw materials, adoption of advanced technologies, techniques and equipment, improvement of management and comprehensive utilization and adoption of other measures in order to reduce or eliminate harm to human health and the environment.
In southeast China's Fujian Province, Longyan Cigarette Factory (LCF) of China Tobacco of Fujian Industrial Corp. has effectively implemented clean production methods for product development, improved techniques and technologies, improved the efficiency of energy use, production and service management and so on. It has adopted such specific measures as the recycling of waste cigarettes and the use of environmentally transferable inner lining paper for cigarette production. Through fulfillment of schemes for clean production, LCF has succeeded in preventing the annual generation of 3,000kg of waste leaf tobacco and 1,000kg of waste cut tobacco stems, contributing to environmental protection and raising economic efficiency.
The tobacco industry of Yunnan province - the leading player in China's tobacco industry as a whole - has set the development of safer, less harmful and more environment-friendly cigarette products as a target of its future business development. It implements the concepts of green production, environmental protection, energy conservation and reduction of consumption throughout research and development, design, production, marketing and environmental control. It pays great attention to human health and environmental protection in order to ensure the sustainable development of Yunnan's tobacco industry.
[b]Environmental protection[/b]
Meanwhile, cigarette-related materials producers have also taken steps to strengthen environmental protection over recent years. For example, the acetate fiber plants in Nantong City in east central China, Kunming City in southwest China and Zhuhai City in south China have successively invested RMB400 in the construction of environmental protection during expansion and have intensified efforts to develop a recycling economy. Today, they are capable of recycling 99.5%or more of such raw materials as acetone and acetic acid, and recycling 96% or more of their industrial water. Over recent years, these enterprises have saved nearly 100,000 tons of standard coal, and have prevented the emission of 12 million tons of sulfur dioxide. Presently, they are getting closer and closer to the target of realizing zero discharge of sewage.
Commenting on these achievements, deputy director Ou Xinqian of the National Development and Reform Commission - a central government agency directly above STMA - said recently that the tobacco industry had achieved a certain success in resources conservation and development over recent years, but there was still vast potential yet to be fully tapped in this regard.
Therefore, it is imperative to attach great importance to the work of energy conservation and emission reduction. The tobacco industry as a whole needs to increase its awareness of the value of resources, practice conservation and environmentally-friendly development, pay greater attention to cost reduction, reduce spending, cut consumption and utilize resources more efficiently. In doing so, all enterprises need to set specific targets, tasks and measures for energy conservation and emission reduction in accordance with central government planning and the requirement of STMA. In light of their different characteristics and key functions, they need to make continued efforts to ensure that all targets will be fulfilled. In further strengthening efforts for energy conservation and emission reduction, STMA has set a package of targets for the year 2008, which include the following key points: firstly, cigarette manufacturers are required to lower their average unit energy consumption by 5% to 8% per RMB10,000 year-on-year in terms of output value. Secondly, cigarette manufacturers are required to cut their chemical oxygen demand and sulfur dioxide emission by 5% year-on-year.
STMA has also set specific targets for energy conservation and emission reduction by tobacco machinery manufacturers and acetate fiber tow producers, as well as specific targets for maximum energy and water consumption by management institutions with the tobacco industry.
Clearly, China's tobacco industry is embracing an era of strengthened environmental protection. Enditem
