When we invested in the newly formed Bo Tian Sugar in 2007, a number of beet sugar factories in northern China had no effluent treatment facilities. Since then we have invested £23m in environmental protection.
To reduce air pollution, £5.7m was invested in the Yi’an factory on a new, highly efficient, boiler; the only one of its kind operating in China’s beet sugar factories. A further £1.3m was invested to achieve the target of reducing borehole water usage by 20% during 2008/9.
Bo Tian scientists face significant challenges to find effective solutions to improve the quality of the waste water. In 2009, the installation of an effluent treatment plant was completed and the site became the first sugar factory to comply with Chinese standards in the region. The Bo Cheng and Qianqi factories will complete similar treatment plants by October 2010 and the two factories will then meet required environmental standards for the first time in their 40-year history.
Bo Tian engineers are also working with water specialists to develop a controlled irrigation technology to recycle waste water in its factories. An irrigation project is being carried out at Wang Kui factory, the success of which will be very good news not only for the environment, but also for local agriculture.