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VOCs control is a core problem in environmental protection in China. The haze pollution caused by PM2.5 is the biggest problem in China in the past 5 years. During the Chemicals Environmental and Safety Management Session of the Chemical Regulatory Annual Conference 2019 held by REACH24H in Xi’an on September 3rd, 2019, Prof. Guangli Xiu from East China University of Science and Technology introduced VOCs policies, regulatory trends and chemical risk management in China.
Prof. Xiu
According to Prof. Xiu, the PM2.5 compliance rate in 338 cities is only 35.8%. Depletion of the ozone layer is also a growing problem in China despite China’s pledge to phase out use of HFCs and other ozone depleting substances as per the stipulations laid down in the Montreal Protocol. Prof. Xiu further introduced the national and local regulatory policy related to VOCs, outlining that more than 400 policy documents and 80 emission standards have been issued in recent years at national or provincial level. The provincial governments will set the key industries for VOCs emission targets. Goals will be calculated based on local industrial situations referencing the VOCs emission targets proposed at national levels. The following table shows the key industries and emission reduction requirements during the 13th five-year plan period at national and provincial levels.
Regions | Emission Reduction Requirements (compared to 2015) | Key Industries for VOCs Emission |
Nation | 10%+ | Petrochemical, Chemical, Industrial Coating, Package Printing, etc. |
Guangdong | 18% | Oil Refining and Petrochemical, Chemical, Industrial Coating, Printing, Shoemaking, Electronic Manufacturing, etc. |
Zhejiang | 20%, 30%+ for key industries | Petrochemical, Chemical, Industrial Coating, Synthetic Leather, Textile Printing and Dyeing, Rubber and Plastics Products, Package Printing, Steel, Concrete and Glass |
Shanghai | 50%+ for key industries | Petrochemical, Automobile and Parts Manufacturing, Furniture Making, Wood Processing, Package Printing, Paint and Ink Production, Shipbuilding, etc. |
Shandong | 20%+ | Petrochemical, Chemical, Industrial Coating, Package Printing, etc. |
Shaanxi | - | Petrochemical, Chemical, Industrial Coating, Package Printing, Furniture, Electronic Manufacturing, Construction Machinery Manufacturing, etc. |
Table 1.
Note: the index of Shanghai can take the Clean Air Action Plan of Shanghai from 2018 to 2022 [1]as the reference and other regions can take the Three-Year Plan on Defending the Blue Sky[2] as the reference.
Faced with new changes in environmental management, enterprise must adapt to new VOCs control requirements. As Prof. Xiu explained it is not enough for enterprises to conduct VOCs management and standard emission control, they should also focus on source control and fugitive management.
Source Control
The definition of low VOCs products will be given by relevant national standards, some are under formulation and some are expected to be published at the end of this year. The following table shows the specific standards:
Product Categories | Standards |
Coating | Technical requirement for low volatile organic compound content coatings product (under examination) Limit of harmful substances of industrial protective coatings (under examination) |
Printing Ink | Limits of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in printing ink (is drafting) |
Adhesive | Limit of volatile organic compound content in adhesives [3](published) |
Cleaning Agent | Limit standard for volatile organic compounds content in cleaning agents (is drafting) |
Table 2
Some provincial governments have already published the limit standards for VOCs in products. Most of the limit standards published at provincial level were not compulsory. However, there are already cases of violations of provincial standards being punished. Three cases of enterprises in Shenzhen have been punished for using coatings with VOCs levels that surpassed the limit stipulated by the Technical Specification for Low Volatile Organic Compound Content Paint[4] (SZJG 54-2017) from August 2018 to August 2019.
According to Prof. Xiu, future VOCs control tendencies will be:
To increase pollutant projects
To implement stricter limit standard
To implement the whole-process control
To implement source control
Fugitive Emission
On May 24th, 2019, China published the Standard for Fugitive Emission of Volatile Organic Compounds [5] (See CL news [6]) which highlighted the requirements for enterprises’ VOCs fugitive emission collection and treatment system and proposed the requirements on the rate emission of VOCs treatment facilities in different regions, as well as stipulating the treatment efficiency requirements for VOCs. Moreover, this standard also proposed looser requirements on products using raw and auxiliary materials which conforms to the national regulations on products with low VOCs contents. According to the Standard for Fugitive Emission of Volatile Organic Compounds:
Category | Control Requirements |
VOCs emission | 10.3.1 Emission of pollutants from VOCs waste gas collection and treatment system shall comply with GB 16297 [7] or relevant industrial emission standards.
10.3.2 When the initial emission rate of NMHC in the collected waste gas is ≥ 3 kg/h, the VOCs treatment facilities should be equipped and the treating efficiency should no less than 80%; as for key areas, when the initial emission rate of NHMC in the collected waste gas is ≥ 2 kg/h, the VOCs treatment facilities should be equipped and the treating efficiency should no less than 80%, except from products using raw and auxiliary materials which conforms to the national regulations on products with low VOCs contents.
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Table 3
Initial Emission Rate of NMHC | Control Requirements | Feasible Treatment Techniques | |
≥ 2 kg/h | Discharge concentration up to standard | Purification efficiency up to standard | Combustion (TO/VCO/RTO/RCO), assimilate, absorption, etc. |
< 2kg/h | Discharge concentration up to standard | For concentration is rather higher than the standard after collection, using combustion, absorption, assimilate | |
For concentration is little higher than the standard after collection, using plasma, photolysis, etc. | |||
For concentration is up to standard, it will be exempted | |||
Table 4
Suggestions to Enterprises
To comply with VOCs regulations enterprises should:
Do a good job in VOCs terminal management and follow standards.
Do a good job in process control and keep pipelines, valve, flange and other places from leaking.
Do a good job in fugitive emission, have a closed operation and standardize the collective system.
Pay attention to source control and the latest progress on limit standards for VOCs contents in coatings, printing ink, adhesive and cleaning agent.
Pay attention to the environmental supervision and law enforcement on VOCs, understand the key points for law enforcement and optimize their self-check list.
To sum up, today’s environmental management has stepped into a new stage. Enterprises shall pay more attention to whole-process management and refine control of VOCs, focus on source substitution, fugitive emission control and closed management of equipment and facilities, as well as technical process control, etc. In addition, enterprises shall also follow the regulations and policies closely.
