Pollution prevention in China's electroplating industry

摘要

Pollution prevention holds great promise for China as a strategy for curbing environmental degrada- tion in the face of rapid industrial growth. This potential is demonstrated in the electroplating sector in China, where some firms are pursuing pollution prevention ag- gressively with results that include increased profits and significant cutbacks in pollution. we conducted research in four Chinese cities to investigate pollution prevention in the electroplating industry. Our study finds that firms with successful pollution prevention programs shared three main characteristics. First, they took a proactive ap- proach towards cutting pollution. Proactive firms in our research employed pollution prevention as an overall en- vironmental management strategy for their companies, and they possessed leaders and managers who demon- strated a strong commitment to pollution reduction goals and activities. Firms with successful pollution prevention programs also employed comprehensive environmental management systems. These systems assigned managers and workers responsibilities for pollution prevention through the use of ru1es, training, monitoring, and penal- ties and rewards. Finally, firms that undertook extensive pollution prevention measures employed staff with rela- tively high levels of technical knowledge and ability. Our results suggest that the aggressive adoption of pollution prevention by Chinese firms can help China address the widespread problems of inefficiency and poor manage- ment in Chinese firms, and the rapid spread of industrial pollution in rural areas.