Jiangsu launched the pilot project of the Green Island initiative this year to build environmental infrastructure for the shared, intensive use among many market players.

The purpose of the initiative is to achieve centralized collection and treatment of pollutants so as to help small and medium-sized enterprises perform better in pollution control and sustainable development.

Under the initiative, construction of a sewage treatment project is underway at Zhangshi Community, located in Wangzhigang Town, Baoying County of Zhenjiang City. Gu Quanxi, an environmental protection officer of the county, said enterprises that failed to meet emission requirements were closed for rectification since 2017 and some small companies didn’t have the capacity to treat polluted water on their own. Now, the sewage treatment project, covering an area of 4,000 square meters, will be put into use soon and ensure all enterprise in the community can comply with the environmental standards.

Within 5 kilometers of the community, there are 33 enterprises engaged in lotus root processing, which will benefit greatly from the new project. It also shows how the Green Island initiative can enable industrial, agricultural and service enterprises to share the infrastructure’s use for ecofriendly growth.

As another example, Tianlv Ecological Organic Fertilizer Co., Ltd in Changzhou City is able to handle the waste from the farming industry in four towns in Wujin District and produce 50,000 tons fertilizer a year.

Gao Qinghua, chairman of the company, said although the project can only earn two or three million yuan a year, the social benefits are enormous since it not only protects the environment but also allows other enterprises to operate at ease.

Even in the first year, Jiangsu’s Green Island initiative has already made great strides. It includes 106 projects with a total investment of about 8.287 billion yuan, and they will benefit more than 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises.

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