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. 2023 Jan-Mar;106(1):368504231152747.
doi: 10.1177/00368504231152747.

Green-production transitions and hazardous industrial discharge: A regional case study from China

Jianing Hou  1   2
Affiliations

Green-production transitions and hazardous industrial discharge: A regional case study from China

Jianing Hou. Sci Prog. 2023 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Green production, which reduces hazardous industrial discharges per unit output, is promoted throughout China. The Environmental Kuznets Curve suggests a negative correlation between hazardous industrial discharge and economic growth due to green innovation. This study expanded the EKC framework by including heterogeneity in evaluating the relationship between hazardous industrial discharges and economic growth to reflect green transformation. Administrative ranking disparity is identified as one of the fundamental driving forces of green production transition in a developing country. Building on an enriched EKC framework, we used a spatial estimation model to exclude spatial effects and obtained accurate estimates of the classified regions. The modified research method was used to examine whether industrial pollution has been reduced in 267 cities and towns in China from 2007 to 2021. Environmental protection performance was examined to estimate whether there is a switch to green manufacturing. As industrial hazards are of different types, the author sought to determine whether there was a decrease in industrial sulphur dioxide emissions, wastewater, solid waste, or dust, even though more industrial hazards were recycled than before. The spatial estimates indicated that (a) the national level of pollution remains positively linked with the total output, and every percentage of output growth increases sulphur dioxide emissions by 444.573 tons; (b) a positive relationship between economic growth and wastewater is altered by environmental protection in cities, while the general decoupling between economic growth and other types of industrial pollution, such as solid waste and industrial dust, was not observed; (c) growth in the southeast was decoupled from sulphur emissions, and its sulphur dioxide production per unit of output increased to 0.021 tons. Sulphur dioxide emissions per unit of economic growth along the southeast coast were 379. 048 tons, which was well below the overall average of 444.573 tons. High-income towns along the southeast coast have achieved clean production breakthroughs, realising a 15% reduction in industrial sulphur dioxide emissions by 2021. Although there were signs of a shift toward clean manufacturing in high administrative ranking cities, most regions of China are transitioning to environmentally friendly manufacturing and suffer from the hardships of green production transformation.

Keywords: SO2; administrative ranking; and spatial regression; green-production transition; industrial dust; industrial waste recycled; industrial wastewater.

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Conflict of interest statement

The research findings presented in this study are included in the article and supplementary materials, and further enquiries can be directed to the author.

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Average annual industrial sulphur dioxide emissions (tons) in 2007–2021. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/. The map was made using ArcGIS. Note: The light-colored regions in the map represent the glaciers in northern China and deserts, plateaus, mountains, and prairies in the west, which are under-industrialized areas and produce negligible industrial hazards annually.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Industrial sulphur dioxide (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Industrial wastewater discharged. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Environmental infrastructure investment in RMB from 2007 to 2021. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Diversified relationships between industrial SO2 emissions and economic growth in classified groups. Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Industrial SO2 emissions (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Industrial wastewater (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Industrial dust discharges (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Industrial Sulphur Dioxide treated (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Industrial wastewater recycled (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Industrial wastewater treated (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 12.
Figure 12.
Industrial dust treated (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 13.
Figure 13.
Industrial solid waste recycled (tons). Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/; Statistics of regional GDP in 100 million RMB.
Figure 14.
Figure 14.
Industrial SO2 treated (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 15.
Figure 15.
Industrial wastewater treated (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 16.
Figure 16.
Industrial dust treated (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
Figure 17.
Figure 17.
Industrial solid waste recycled (tons) per capita 2007–2021. Source: The National Bureau of Statistics of China, http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/.
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