Following the release of emission standards for industries such as rare earth and batteries, the Ministry of Environmental Protection recently issued the "Technical Specifications for Wastewater Treatment Engineering in the Monosodium Glutamate Industry" (Draft for Comments), requiring enterprises to adopt standardized technologies and processes for wastewater treatment. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in addition to the "Technical Specifications," the Ministry is revising the national standard for pollutant emissions from the monosodium glutamate industry issued in 2003, proposing stricter limits on specific emission indicators such as organic wastewater and chemical oxygen demand (COD).

According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection's plan, over the next five years, the Ministry will successively formulate or revise emission standards for a series of fields, including industrial wastewater from steel and pharmaceutical industries, and oil-containing wastewater from offshore oil development. Industry analysts point out that the continued environmental protection storm may trigger a wave of industry consolidation in many sectors, and enterprises and products with innovations in environmental protection technologies and processes will generally benefit.

100 Standards to be Rolled Out

Since the beginning of this year, emission standards for industries such as rare earth, lead-acid batteries, and thermal power have been successively put on the agenda, and their impact on various industries has gradually become apparent. Following the environmental protection storm in the lead-acid battery industry, it is widely believed that nearly 90% of enterprises face elimination.

According to the reporter's understanding, within the next five years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will issue 100 national standards for various industries, including water pollutants, air pollutants, solid waste and chemical pollutants, and noise pollution. In terms of industrial wastewater pollution control, the focus industries will include steel, pharmaceuticals, and offshore oil engineering.

Some analysts also believe that while the introduction of environmental protection standards will theoretically have a certain impact on related industries due to the high requirements for pollutant emission indicators, the implementation and enforcement of standards are more decisive in determining the extent of the impact on the industry. Therefore, the size of the potential impact on various industry markets will depend on the subsequent release of a series of implementation policies.