The Ministry of Environmental Protection, Government of China, has announced new discharge standard of water pollutants for leather and fur making industry (GB 30486-2013), to be implemented with effect from March 1, 2014.

 

China has the world’s largest leather manufacturing industry, in terms of scale of production, but it has some major problems, for example, large pollution load, mixed contents in wastewater, different pollution management levels, and little effort in promoting cleaner production.

 

The leather making industry in China generates 160 million tons of wastewater every year, which contains about 404,000 tons of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 16,000 tons of ammonia/nitrogen, and 1,280 tons of chromium, according to a press release from the Ministry.

 

The GB 30486-2013 standard specifies the total nitrogen, chlorine ion and other specific pollutants, which are the primary targets for control of industrial wastewater from leather and fur making industry.

 

Based on the technological progress in treatment of water pollutants in leather industry, the new standard sets tougher emission limits and referential discharge indicators, compared to the existing one.

 

The Ministry estimates that the discharge of COD and ammonia/nitrogen may be cut by 11,800 tons (57.2 percent) and 2,380 tons (67.4 percent), respectively, after the new standards are completely enforced.

 

In the meantime, the industrial structure will be optimized, and a batch of small-sized, non-competitive companies operating on outdated production facilities, low-level processes and technologies, and poor environmental pollution treatment facilities will be eliminated, the release said.