According to the data published in China Environmental Annual Report in 2002, the paper-making drainage in China is 3.53 billion cubic meters, accounting for 18.2% of the total industrial drainage in China. The discharge of COD (chemical oxygen demand) is 2.877 million tons, accounting for 40.8% of the total national discharge. This is only the monitored data, and the actual situation is more serious.
Small paper mills are the biggest source of pollution in the paper industry. According to Professor Zheng of Nanjing Forestry University, in the 1990s, there were more than 1000 papermaking enterprises in China, 90% of which were small factories with an annual output of 10000 tons or even thousands of tons.
The direct reason why there are so many small paper mills in China is that these small paper mills use straw pulp with low cost. However, residual straw pulp and waste liquid discharged during bleaching have become the main pollution sources. At present, it is recognized in the industry that the treatment technology of straw pulp black liquor has not been completely solved internationally, especially in small and medium-sized paper enterprises. It can be said that the production of small and medium-sized paper mills with straw pulp as raw material represents pollution.
This "grass-based" papermaking process has long been eliminated in Finland. According to Soile Korhonen, chief representative of UPM in China and vice president of business development in Asia-Pacific region, at present, Finnish paper mills basically use wood pulp, and the pollution is much lighter. UPM is one of the largest forest and paper industry groups in the world, with 930,000 hectares of forest in Finland. Compared with straw pulp papermaking, wood pulp papermaking requires much higher investment and much advanced technology. Some small paper mills simply don't have this ability.
Are there no small paper mills in Finland? "I used to, but now I don't." Ms. Su Yilan said that in the development of Finland's paper industry for more than 100 years, small paper mills have either closed down or been merged, and now there are only four "Big Mac" paper mills left in the country. She believes that even if the government does not come forward to shut down small paper mills, they will be eliminated by the market in the future; Government intervention will accelerate the demise of small paper mills and reduce their harm to the environment.
The perfect environmental protection system is the main reason why Finland can rank first in the ranking of environmental sustainability index (ESI). Finland is the first country in the world to enact environmental protection law, with effective supervision and management mechanism, which complements laws and regulations.
Since September 1992, the Finnish government has strictly restricted the emissions of factories by implementing the environmental permit system, prompting enterprises to choose the most effective measures to control pollution emissions and monitor harmful substances in wastewater, waste and waste gas at any time during production. When designing, planning, transforming, expanding and adopting new raw materials, factories and enterprises must first apply for and obtain environmental protection permits issued by relevant competent departments.
Through the environmental permit system, the Finnish environmental protection department can also obtain the relevant information of wastewater or waste gas emission from factories and enterprises at any time, so as to supervise whether the enterprises strictly implement the relevant regulations. The effect of this system is obvious. At present, the paper industry sewage, which accounts for 90% of the total industrial sewage discharge in Finland, has been basically purified, and the purification rate of urban sewage has reached 100%.
Ms. Su Yilan said that environmental protection facilities are part of the Finnish factory. It was taken into account when the factory was designed, not added after the factory was built. Building environmental protection facilities as a part of the factory is much cheaper than adding environmental protection facilities after the factory is completed.
UPM Changshu paper mill is close to the Yangtze River and uses Yangtze River water to make paper. "But we discharge more sewage into the Yangtze River than we draw water from it.
People should be clean when they go to the factory. "Said ylang silk.
UPM Changshu Paper Mill adopts the most advanced sewage treatment equipment in the world. The whole system realizes automatic control and online monitoring, and the monitoring system is connected with the information network of the Environmental Protection Bureau. Since it was put into production, all indexes of effluent quality are superior to the national first-class discharge standard. Some wood pulp can also be recovered by treating sewage, which also saves raw material costs for enterprises to some extent.
"Our products are first-class, and we also regard environmental protection achievements as one of our products, which should also be of high quality. For enterprises, environmental protection is an aspect of corporate reputation, especially paper enterprises. It is hard to imagine that a company that ignores environmental protection can establish a good reputation in the world market. "
UPM attaches great importance to environmental publicity and communication. The personnel in charge of public relations of the Group and its branches plan and implement environmental public relations work together with environmental management personnel. For example, many paper mills and pulp mills under the Group hold "open days" regularly. Visitors include customers, news media, students, local residents and environmental officials. They can understand the production and environmental standards of the factory and communicate directly with the factory. Since 200 1, UPM has also set up "UPM Huichuan Environmental Protection Scholarship" in Nantah to reward outstanding environmental protection students.
UPM's achievements in environmental protection have established a good corporate image in the world market. In the annual Dow Jones Global Sustainability Index released at the end of 2004, UPM ranked first among forest products and paper companies. In March 2003, UPM Changshu Paper Mill successfully passed the certification of IS0 1400 1 environmental management system. UPM Changshu Paper Mill also won the title of "National Top 100 Environmental Protection Project", which is especially valuable for a paper-making enterprise.
It is precisely because of the environmental protection enterprises like UPM that Finland will not have such a serious water pollution problem as China.
Papermaking is not at the expense of forests.
Finland's paper industry has developed for more than 100 years, and the forest coverage rate has increased to 70%, which is mainly due to Finland's perfect forest management system. All forest lands in Finland have clear property rights. After selling a certain number of trees, forest owners must replant saplings in situ to ensure the sustainability of forest utilization. With the restraint of this system, it is impossible for China to cut down forests excessively, and Finland is left unattended.
UPM Scientific Management Group has 920,000 hectares of forest in Finland, and at the same time, it has influenced a wider range of forest harvesting behavior through environmentally friendly wood procurement. For example, the organization has developed a series of methods to trace the source of wood raw materials to ensure that it will not buy wood from protected areas, wood that the government does not allow to cut down, and so on. Forest environmental certification is also an activity actively supported by the Group. The forest management department of UPM is also responsible for maintaining the ecological balance of forests and raising forest protection to the height of ecological protection, such as protecting biodiversity and protecting various small ecosystems.
In addition, the wood utilization rate of Finnish enterprises is surprisingly high, reaching 100%. Take UPM as an example. After the trees are cut down, the rough parts are transported to factories under the Ministry of Timber to produce sawn timber or plywood. Small parts, treetops and branches are transported to paper mills for pulping and papermaking. The waste after pulping, such as bark, pulp residue, etc., can be burned as paper-making energy; Wood chips from wood processing and plywood production can be used as raw materials for pulp mills. The maximum utilization of this kind of wood is an effective measure to protect forest resources.
In May 2004, Zhang made a special trip to Finland to inspect the sustainable management of forest resources and intensive management of forestry in Finland. The focus of this trip is to visit a factory in UPM.
In April 2005, during his visit to Finland, Hui Liangyu, Vice Premier of the State Council, also visited UPM's forestry harvesting management and forestry-pulp-paper integrated factory.