Environmental Markets Worldwide and China's Growing Environmental Markets and Concerns

PRLog (Press Release) – May 02, 2008 – The total markets worldwide will grow from 1600 billion US Dollar in 2006 to 7400 billion US Dollar in 2025, in the whole value chain and all the main sectors and sub sectors.
The international market for environmental technologies is fueled by several important policy and market drivers of demand: greater global focus on sustainable development; liberalization of environmental technologies trade via bilateral and multilateral efforts; growing industrialization and environmental awareness in key emerging markets; and broader application of environmental „best practices“ by multinationals. Meanwhile, key competitors aggressively penetrate the large environmental market through partnerships, acquisitions, and direct sales.
The global environmental market is vast and rapidly growing. Environmental technologies exports are an important part of a global trend of economic development combined with strong ecological concerns. Given the strength of the environmental industry, environmental technologies‘ exports should continue to play a very significant role in the global market. More and more countries build their own environmental industry not to depend on imports.
The top markets for environmental technologies are today China and Asia, USA, Japan, Germany and Europe, Exports to China have increased dramatically in recent years, while many markets have suffered declines.
Water and waste water treatments present the greatest opportunitites in the international market. The global water market has been growing rapidly over the last decade and accounts for almost more then 25 percent of the world‘s total environmental market. Renewable energies, clean energy, is the fastest growing market with high risks.
http://www.hkc22.com/environmentalbusiness.html

China Developments

Although China's rapid expansion fuels the global economy and reduces the country's rate of poverty, a negative outcome of this growth is the impact on the environment. The industrial growth is damaging China's natural resource base, which has been generating environmental problems all across the country. The issues include land degradation, deteriorating water quality and water scarcity, severe air pollution and declining natural forest cover. The health and prospects of current and future generations are being affected by this development and the growing global concern is whether China can continue to sustain such development without action being taken. The government has begun creating programs to cope with urbanization and clean up the damage announced in 2005 in China's 11th Five-Year Plan, which marked the beginning of a more environmentally-conscious era.
The most pressing problem is water. China is one of the 20 most water-scarce countries in the world, with about one-quarter of the world's average water resources. A The Chinese Government has decided to invest largely in developing technologies to treat water pollution. Three big state-funded programs for the research and development of such technologies have been approved. These programs, to last between 2008 and 2020, will support research of technologies to remedy pollution in rivers, lakes, drinking water and in water body environments. See
http://www.hkc22.com/chinawater.html

Waste Reduction

In order to reduce the amount of waste produced, several programs will come into effect, starting 1st of June 2008.

A measure that will affect most Chinese citizens in their daily lives is the planned distribution-ban of free plastic bags by retailers which is a potentially major step in addressing the country's large municipal waste problem. Chinese municipalities generate approximately 190 million tons of trash per year, and that amount is rapidly increasing. Landfills are quickly reaching their capacity and China will have to create an estimated 1,400 new landfills over the next 25 years in order to satisfy the increasing amount of garbage accumulated and to make up for poorly managed existing landfills.

Leaking solid waste landfills have already rendered 50,000 hectares of land around cities useless, which poses a serious land constraint problem, as China supports 25 percent of the world's population with seven percent of the arable land. China is facing growing ecological and human health threats from brownfield sites (stemming from both older landfills that lack proper linings and some new landfills that are poorly managed). A further provocation to the problem is the illegal dumping of municipal and industrial waste. The incineration of waste also emits chemicals, namely dioxins, furans and mercury, which are harmful to human health in China and abroad.

Only a few large and medium-sized cities have adopted comprehensive municipal waste reduction programs and recycling rates in these waste producing cities remains low. Positive policies emerging in China include discharge fees on those responsible that do not comply with relevant environmental law and incentives to reduce, recycle and reuse wastes. "Landfill gas capture" projects have also begun to turn the methane gas produced during the biodegradation of organic matter into a fuel to be used by industries and vehicles. China has also implemented stricter laws on the importation of solid waste, yet illegal e-waste dismantling and ship-breaking operations continue to function.
http://www.hkc22.com/biogas.html

The highest Investements made in drinking water, waste water, waste and biogas
and air pollution beside of renewable energies