The city of Baotou is continuing to implement plans to promote the green transformation of its traditional industry, in a process undertaken in recent years with the goals of reducing and recycling industrial solid waste.

The industries involved include the iron and steel sector, nonferrous metals, electric power, rare earth and the coal chemicals industry. As a result, from 2018 to 2019, the amount of waste generation in Baotou – located in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – is reported to have decreased by four percent a year.

Details about the city's approach were given at a news conference on March 30.

"This four percent is amazing," said Ren Yong, director of the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, who gave a presentation to the media.

In 2021, the city developed six green parks, 26 green factories and 23 green design products. What's more, an industrial green manufacturing system covering multiple industries and categories has initially been established.

Through the green transformation and development of industry, the city's waste has been gradually reduced from 3.16 metric tons of solid waste per 10,000 yuan ($1,573) of industrial added value in 2018 to 2.95 tons in 2021.

At the same time, the comprehensive utilization rate of waste has increased from 34 percent to 50 percent, the utilization rate of disposed fly ash has increased from 86.4 percent to 91.8 percent, while the utilization rate of smelting slag disposals has increased from nearly 47 percent to 90 percent.

The city's new energy installed capacity increased from 5.04 million kilowatts in 2018 to 6.36 million kilowatts in 2021. Its new energy power generation increased from 8.09 billion kWh to 14.54 billion kWh during the period and the proportion of new energy power generation increased from 12.84 percent to 18.4 percent.

Plans are for the city to build a new energy pilot demonstration base during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), to fully promote the transformation and development of green energy.