China releases On-Site VOC Inspection Guidelines for Key Industries (Trial Implementation) 
According to the announcement from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China On June 30, 2020, it released earlier in the month a booklet called the On-site VOC Inspection Guidelines for Key Industries (Trial Implementation), which consists of over 80 pages. It presents the list of business areas/operations subject to the guidelines as well as specifying key manufacturing processes, pollutant discharge processes and inspection check points, for six industries, namely the petrochemical, chemical, industrial coating, packaging and printing, oil storage and gas station industries.
Affected business areas/operations by industry are as follows.
| Industry | Affected business areas/operations |
|---|---|
| Petrochemical | ・Petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing |
| Chemical | ・Oil, coal and other fuel processing (coke, modern coal chemicals, etc.)
・Chemical raw materials and chemical product manufacturing (chemical pesticides, paint, etc.) ・Pharmaceutical manufacturing (active pharmaceutical ingredients [APIs], veterinary pharmaceuticals, etc.) ・Chemical fiber manufacturing (polyester fiber, nylon fiber, etc.) ・Rubber and plastic product manufacturing (tires, plastic films, etc.) |
| Industrial coating | ・Automobiles, ships, other vehicles, furniture, coil, metal products, general-purpose equipment, special-purpose equipment, plastic products, electro-mechanical equipment, computers, communication equipment and other electronic equipment |
| Packaging and printing | ・Printing of plastic flexible packaging, cosmetic boxes, iron cans, labels, etc.
・See the guidelines for other types of printing. |
| Oil storage | ・Mainly Oil and gas storage
・Oil terminals of petrochemical and chemical companies should be inspected according to the inspection check points for the petrochemical industry |
| Gas station | ・Gasoline vapor recovery, to be implemented mainly by automotive fuel retailers
・Diesel vapor recovery is not required. |
Although inspections are conducted in accordance with the manufacturing processes and pollutant discharge process in each industry, the on-site inspections are performed based on VOC sources. Key inspection items include:
- Raw materials and indirect materials
- Fugitive emissions of VOCs
- Systematic emission of VOC-related substances
- Management of ledgers
The original guidelines can be viewed at this link (in simplified Chinese).
https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywgz/dqhjbh/dqgdyhjgl/202006/W020200630390174901392.pdf
[Note from EnviX]
The VOC discharge processes and inspection check points for each industry are described with figures and tables in the guidelines. We can’t cover all of them in our articles, but in case you need more details, we can offer you a translation service. Please feel free to contact us.
