The industrial park that revolves around the circular economy

The circular, or recycling, economy is a popular concept, but so far there have been few successful examples around the world. Therefore, it's little wonder that many developed countries have seen piles of trash growing since China announced that it will phase out imports of waste materials by the end of the year.

However, the Pizhou Renewable Economy Industrial Park in Jiangsu province is developing a genuine circular economy centered on lead-acid batteries.

The park, which was put into operation in March 2009 with investment of more than 2 billion yuan, not only uses environmentally friendly technologies to process spent lead-acid batteries, but also transforms many of the recycled materials into new products.

Jiangsu New Chunxing Resource Recycling Group is one of 13 companies in the facility. The amount of lead in waste residue is a key indicator in assessments of methods of processing spent lead-acid batteries, and while leading foreign technologies can only bring the content down to 4 to 8 percent, New Chunxing's treatments can reduce the volume to about 1.6 percent, the company said.

Many people expect battery disposal to be a highly polluting process because of the acid and lead content, but Yang Chunming, New Chunxing's chairman, said the company's advanced processing technology has ensured that there has been no rise in pollutants in the local air, water and soil, despite years of operation.

To prove that its technology is environmentally friendly, the company has dug a moat around its plant and breeds fish in it.

"We don't discharge wastewater outside - it is all used in the factory after being treated," Yang said.

The company said its fuel consumption is no more than 90 kilograms of standard coal for each metric ton of secondary lead it extracts, while many of its foreign rivals consume 300 kg.

Yang said the company will invest 2 billion yuan ($289 million) to raise its annual processing capability from 850,000 metric tons of spent lead-acid batteries to 1.55 million tons, while expanding its business overseas, mainly through acquisitions.

New Chunxing already has plants in Thailand and Pakistan, and it has signed an agreement to invest in a factory in the United Arab Emirates.

"We plan to build or acquire five to 10 companies around the world in the next three to five years," he added.

C&D Jiangsu Technology Co stands about 20 meters from New Chunxing's plant. The company, which produces backup industrial batteries, was officially launched in August 2017 with investment of $118 million.

It has a production capacity of 1.5 million KiloVoltAmphours, and expects to extend its production capacity by 3 million KVAh this year.

"Most of our production materials (lead and lead alloy) come from New Chunxing," said Zhou Zhiwen, the plant's deputy general manager.

Meanwhile, waste plastic from New Chunxing's battery recycling plant is processed by Guangzhou Kingfa Science and Technology Co, which has a factory in the park, on behalf of C&D.

"This substantially boosts logistic efficiency and lowers our raw material costs," Zhou said.

The industrial park is also home to manufacturers of spare parts for new energy vehicles, which use recycled materials from New Chunxing.