Henan Province had its most expensive environmental fine handed out to a polluter since the new law was introduced. The company who incurred this fine will be quite familiar to us because it is the second time we mentioned this company in our blog this month. It is Luoyang Xiangjiang Wanji Aluminium.
Wanji Aluminium received the fine of RMB96.63 million for continuous nitrogen oxide problem from January 2015 to 30th of June 2016.
The fine was charged based on the article 59 of new environmental law. Enterprises that receive fines relating to illegal discharge of pollutants are fined again if they do not correct the problem within a time limit. The extra fine is calculated based on the size of the original fine.
After July 1, 2014, the national emission standard for nitrogen dioxide was reduced from no more than 600 mg / cubic meter to not higher than 100 mg / cubic meter.
Wanji was notified of its problem in January 2015. But it took them until June 39 2016 to get their emissions below the required level.
Wanji paid RMB14.07 million of the fine in early August, and they chose to pay by instalments for the rest of the fine. The company staff said the annual profit of the enterprise is only about 30 million under the sluggish domestic aluminium market. It will take them at least 3 years to pay off the fine. It means they have to survive with zero profits for three years. They have to work very hard to save energy and reduce operating costs as much as possible to support the company to get through the tough time.
The environmental problem became a very serious topic in China now and the large fine will certainly improve the environmental situation in China. At the same time, the upgrade of emission control equipment will increase the running cost for the enterprises.
No comments
Be the first to leave a comment.