Relying on the construction of a full-chain internal hazardous waste resource recycling system, Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical (ZRCC) has become the first national zero-waste petrochemical base in China. Centered on the development concepts of green development, circular utilization, waste regeneration and waste reuse, ZRCC has established an integrated new petrochemical industrial model covering source reduction, on-site disposal, resource recycling, efficiency improvement and carbon emission reduction.
Leveraging the industrial advantages of a large-scale integrated refining and chemical park, ZRCC has abandoned the conventional model of transferring hazardous waste to external institutions for disposal. All tank-cleaning waste mineral oil generated from factory overhauls and marketing channel recycling is delivered to coking units for internal re-refining. The reprocessed materials are converted into fuel oil and basic chemical raw materials, realizing 100% on-site resource utilization of waste oil. This practice significantly cuts hazardous waste transfer and disposal costs, and reduces carbon emissions generated by cross-regional hazardous waste transportation.
ZRCC has put into operation two domestically developed core circular facilities: the Wet Air Oxidation (WAO) unit for waste lye and the Partial Oxidation (POX) coke-to-hydrogen unit. With independent proprietary technologies, the base achieves source reduction of sulfur-containing waste lye with an annual processing capacity of 100,000 tons. Meanwhile, the two facilities collaboratively dispose of diversified oil-based hazardous wastes including oily sludge, spent catalysts, organic waste liquid and waste activated carbon. All listed wastes are subjected to harmless treatment and resource recovery through gasification hydrogen production, eliminating environmental risks caused by external landfill and incineration of hazardous waste fundamentally.
Targeting solid waste pollution in catalyst manufacturing, ZRCC independently developed complete recovery processes for tower bottom liquid and mother liquor. The customized technologies reduce the output of waste acid residue by 60% at the production source, avoiding subsequent end-of-pipe disposal pressure.
The enterprise has launched a full-life cycle management system for catalysts. All failed catalysts are centrally recycled internally: precious metal components are extracted from spent catalysts, and silica-alumina gel carriers are fully reused in catalyst production lines. By-products such as waste gel residue and ethanol byproducts are converted into usable production raw materials and gasification carbon sources. The integrated resource recovery system generates direct annual economic benefits of 135 million yuan. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the total solid waste output of ZRCC’s catalyst sector decreased by 53%. Besides, five subsidiaries of ZRCC have obtained local zero-waste factory certifications.
The catalyst solid waste governance system realizes dual benefits of solid waste reduction and value-added resource regeneration.
Taking ZRCC as the benchmark zero-waste demonstration base, Sinopec has expanded the full industrial chain circular ecological layout. The group’s lubricant division adopts digital management systems to realize full-life cycle recycling and regeneration of waste lubricants. Up to now, Sinopec has built 10 regional hazardous waste disposal centers with a total annual processing capacity of 250,000 tons, covering resource regeneration of waste plastic, waste mineral oil, spent catalysts and other mainstream industrial hazardous wastes.
Supported by the national targeted directional utilization policy for hazardous waste, ZRCC has launched cross-enterprise hazardous waste collaborative disposal projects. The base consumes nearly 100,000 tons of external oily sludge, waste mineral oil and waste lye annually via internal disposal facilities.
ZRCC has formed a closed-loop industrial circular chain following the path of source reduction - internal regeneration - cross-entity collaborative disposal - value-added benefit growth. By comprehensively practicing green and low-carbon development strategies, the base maximizes the renewable economic and environmental value of industrial solid and hazardous wastes. It provides a replicable standardized implementation path for large-scale domestic refining and chemical parks to promote waste recycling and build circular industrial ecosystems.
