According to the Environmental Standard Research Institute of the MEP, technical details of the “Effluent Standard for Pesticide Manufacturing Industry” are currently being reviewed. The final draft version is expected to be released for public consultation in 2016.
There are around 500 pesticide technical material producers and 1,800 formulating producers in China. Pesticide output has reached 3 million tons per year and over 100 million tons (on active ingredient basis) of pesticide are exported to other countries. However, most of these products were low profit margin, low quality generics. A large volume of pollutants are released during pesticide production without adequate treatment measures.
With China placing significantly more emphasis on environmental protection the pesticide industry is faced with significantly heightened regulatory hurdles as follows:
The newly revised Environmental Protection Law will take effect on the 1st of Jan 2015 and has been termed China’s “toughest” environmental protection regulation to date. If a company violates any of the articles laid down in this regulation and refuses to implement adequate rectification measures, daily fines will be imposed without any cap on total. Punitive measures will also be proportionate to the level of the violation;
China is to propose its own water action plan to curb water pollution;
A proposal was made by the Third Plenary Session to monitor all pollutants;
The environmental compliance verification targeting glyphosate production has been initiated since May 2013;
Currently, China adopts the “Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard (GB 8978-1996)” to regulate all effluent generating industries. The regulation is almost 20 years old and grossly out of touch with the current industry situation. For example, in this regulations an indirect COD limitation of 1,000 mg/L, which is not suitable for the pesticide industry. Second, only the production of parathion, parathion-methyl, Malathion and some other pesticides are specified by GB 8978-1996 and grossly underrepresents the numerous active ingredients used today. The standard also stipulates an overly stringent maximum limitation on phosphate. To comply with the standard, some producers exploit a loophole in the regulation and simply dilute effluents before discharge. GB 8978-1996 lacks specific detailed requirements in this area.
The newly drafted standard has been developed specifically for the pesticide industry. Over 60 characteristic indices will be included. The COD limitation will range from a far more suitable 400 to 500 mg/L. More stringent standards will be adopted for less biodegradable effluents. Toxicity index limits will also be established, however in view of current circumstances, the implementation of toxicity limits will be delayed for 2 or 3 years.
