Quzhou completes cross-city sewage discharge rights transaction

Shenlong Building Materials Co Ltd from Changshan county, Quzhou, and Zhejiang Guigeng Medical Technology Co Ltd reached an agreement on the transfer of water-related indicators on Aug 14.

"The conclusion of this agreement will save the company greatly in production costs," said Zheng Xiaowei, an employee at Shenlong Building Materials Co Ltd.

According to the agreement, Shenlong Building Materials Co Ltd will purchase chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) indicators from Zhejiang Guigeng Medical Technology Co Ltd at prices of 20,300 yuan ($2,782.14) per metric ton and 50,500 yuan per ton, respectively.

COD, NH3-N and total phosphorus (TP) are three important indicators in surface water discharge.

In the past, it took about at least two months for companies to obtain sewage discharge rights from regular sewage discharge rights transactions and auctions held by environment department.

Now, with the support of environmental protection departments, it took just three days to obtain surplus sewage discharge rights from other companies, said Zheng excitedly.

The market trading of sewage discharge rights is a result of China's carbon peak and neutrality goal to realize the quantitative, market-oriented, standardized and intelligent management of pollutant emissions. In April, the Zhejiang Sewage Discharge Rights Paid Use and Trading Management Measures were officially implemented.