Project to push clean production in service industry

A three-year pilot project will promote clean production in Beijing’s service sector, the major contributor to the city’s economic growth.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, the city’s economic planning body, released the plan last month.

The government will establish an audit system of clean production and introduce a series of clean production programs among 318 selected companies and institutions, according to the commission.

The plan will cover 10 major service sectors, including hospitals, schools and restaurants.

The service sector, accounting for 76 percent of Beijing’s GDP growth in 2012, has become a major target of energy saving and emission reduction in the capital. According to the commission, the service sector and residents’ daily energy consumption accounted for 60 percent of total energy consumption in Beijing.

The statement said that any program approved by the government will get a subsidy equaling 30 percent of the investment.

In the hotel and restaurant sector, the focus will be on kitchen waste treatment, especially the treatment of cooking oil. In the hospital sector, it will focus on the treatment of medical waste.

The government is expected to cut 10,000 metric tons of coal consumption, 24,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 4 million tons of water consumption in three years.

In Anzhen Hospital, Chaoyang district, many projects for clean production have already been launched.

For example, it introduced equipment to treat kitchen waste, which could recycle 800 kg of oil each year.

It also built a new sewage treatment station, with a total investment of 10 million yuan. 

“Meeting the target for clean production was not an easy task as the hospital has met difficulties, such as the pressure of a rising number of patients,” said Cui Weideng, deputy head of the hospital.

In 2012, the hospital received 2.3 million patients, a rise of 56 percent from 2011.

He said the hospital will apply for eight clean production programs to get more support from the government.

Xu Ting, an engineer from Beijing CEE Technology Co, said that the company is providing consultation support for the clean production campaign in Beijing’s service sector.

Xu said clean production was a comprehensive system, which integrates production, service and consumption.

But more importantly, it should raise the awareness of people in the sector, he said.

“Take a small detail as example — when you leave the office, you should turn off the light. That’s also part of clean production,” Xu said.