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Implementing stricter environmental regulation to enhance eco-efficiency and sustainability: a case study of Shandong Province's pulp and paper industry, China

Wang, Yutao ; Liu, Jian ; Hansson, Lars LU ; Zhang, Kai and Wang, Renqing (2011) In Journal of Cleaner Production 19(4). p.303-310
Abstract
There has been much debate on the topic of whether stricter environmental regulations can promote environmental performance and economic performance at the same time. Different researchers have used different indicators to measure environmental performance and economic performance in their empirical studies. However, it is a surprise that few studies have checked the relationship between environmental regulation and eco-efficiency, as the latter is widely regarded as a quite powerful tool of considering ecology and economy together. In this study the background is the implementation in 2003 of the Stricter Discharge Standard (SDS) in Shandong Province's Pulp and Paper Industry (SPPI), compared to the national standards of China. The... (More)
There has been much debate on the topic of whether stricter environmental regulations can promote environmental performance and economic performance at the same time. Different researchers have used different indicators to measure environmental performance and economic performance in their empirical studies. However, it is a surprise that few studies have checked the relationship between environmental regulation and eco-efficiency, as the latter is widely regarded as a quite powerful tool of considering ecology and economy together. In this study the background is the implementation in 2003 of the Stricter Discharge Standard (SDS) in Shandong Province's Pulp and Paper Industry (SPPI), compared to the national standards of China. The stricter regulations were intended to promote corporate change from passive management to active control and from end-of-pipe treatment to cleaner production. This study investigated the eco-efficiency trends of SPPI from 2001 to 2008 in three fields: water efficiency, energy efficiency and environment efficiency. A "de-linking" and "re-linking" tool was used to attain a further evaluation. The study showed that with the implementation of stricter regulation most of the efficiency indicators (except CO2 emission and energy consumption) had achieved significant improvements, and the overall environmental performance trends of SPPI showed it to be more sustainable. However, the study also found that it was not enough to address a single indicator in the environmental regulation of the pulp and paper industry. More holistic eco-efficiency indicators need to be further considered and introduced to the industry as the next step to create true sustainable development. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved, (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cleaner production, Eco-efficiency, De-linking, Environmental, regulation, Pulp and paper industry
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
19
issue
4
pages
303 - 310
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000287551700003
  • scopus:78751575742
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.11.006
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d26c7284-14ed-4395-973b-382cdf895929 (old id 1872795)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:06:45
date last changed
2022-03-29 05:34:19
@article{d26c7284-14ed-4395-973b-382cdf895929,
  abstract     = {{There has been much debate on the topic of whether stricter environmental regulations can promote environmental performance and economic performance at the same time. Different researchers have used different indicators to measure environmental performance and economic performance in their empirical studies. However, it is a surprise that few studies have checked the relationship between environmental regulation and eco-efficiency, as the latter is widely regarded as a quite powerful tool of considering ecology and economy together. In this study the background is the implementation in 2003 of the Stricter Discharge Standard (SDS) in Shandong Province's Pulp and Paper Industry (SPPI), compared to the national standards of China. The stricter regulations were intended to promote corporate change from passive management to active control and from end-of-pipe treatment to cleaner production. This study investigated the eco-efficiency trends of SPPI from 2001 to 2008 in three fields: water efficiency, energy efficiency and environment efficiency. A "de-linking" and "re-linking" tool was used to attain a further evaluation. The study showed that with the implementation of stricter regulation most of the efficiency indicators (except CO2 emission and energy consumption) had achieved significant improvements, and the overall environmental performance trends of SPPI showed it to be more sustainable. However, the study also found that it was not enough to address a single indicator in the environmental regulation of the pulp and paper industry. More holistic eco-efficiency indicators need to be further considered and introduced to the industry as the next step to create true sustainable development. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,}},
  author       = {{Wang, Yutao and Liu, Jian and Hansson, Lars and Zhang, Kai and Wang, Renqing}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{Cleaner production; Eco-efficiency; De-linking; Environmental; regulation; Pulp and paper industry}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{303--310}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Implementing stricter environmental regulation to enhance eco-efficiency and sustainability: a case study of Shandong Province's pulp and paper industry, China}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.11.006}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.11.006}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}