TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform: Empowering Green Development

What kind of spark will be lit when urban ecological environment construction meets technologies like cloud computing and big data? TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform, a comprehensive informatized platform for urban ecological environmental management created by TEDA, has moved the supervision of key environmental elements to the “cloud”. This innovation not only ensures local environmental oversight in a full-range way and makes environmental management more efficient and accurate, but also assists enterprises in reducing the risk of environmental violations. It has become an important force to promote sustainable regional development.

At the command center of TEDA Smart Environmental Protection System, staff are monitoring the production and sewage discharge of local enterprises in real time through the platform. On the big screen, in the column of of production status, eye-catching green blocks are indicating normal operation of enterprises. Whenever these blocks turn red, enterprises would receive an early warning from the platform. “We have installed sensors on production lines including production facilities and pollution control facilities to collect data 24/7, enabling comprehensive monitoring of enterprise operations to identify potential risks, thereby urging enterprises to conduct problem inspections and rectification promptly, and upload their corrective results to the platform. This approach has ensured online rectification and review of environmental issues.” an official from TEDA Ecology and Environment Bureau said.

TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform so far incorporates 31 categories of environmental information from enterprises, including data on emission permits, discharge outlet details for exhaust gases and wastewater, solid waste management, and emergency response plans. A complete chain of data collection, processing, and analysis has been established, with each enterprise managed via an individual file. So far files of approximately 2,500 enterprises have been set up. These enterprises have full access to their environmental data, which are updated on a real-time basis.

Moreover, the smart platform supports online processing of 12 environmental administrative licensing matters, including environmental impact assessment approvals, permits of solid waste removal from Tianjin, and emergency management for heavy pollution weather, eliminating the need for on-site application by enterprises. This not only simplifies administrative procedures for investors but also strengthens environmental oversight.

The smart platform extends beyond enterprise oversight. It aggregates data on emission factors of regional pollution sources and environmental quality, etc., allowing a thorough analysis of accumulated data to grasp regional environmental dynamics such as air quality. This data-driven approach assists the government in making informed environmental management decisions, enabling early prediction and preparation for environmental issues.

Known for its fully-fledged manufacturing sectors, TEDA has been recognized as a national-level demo zone for the neo-industrialization of automotives, electronics & IT, petrochemicals, and biopharmaceuticals, and is home to mature industry clusters of auto & high-end equipments, next-gen information technology, new chemical materials, and healthcare. With thousands of enterprises under each of these industry clusters, TEDA faces challenges in environmental oversight. 

TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform addresses these challenges by implementing leveled and categorized controls over local enterprises. Through real-time online monitoring of emissions and power usage, TEDA precisely identifies problems while minimizing disruptions to business operations. Additionally, TEDA leverages the platform’s powerful data system by combining on-site enforcement inspections, cruise monitoring, and online reviews. This practice integrates various roles such as call center responsers, grid members, and third-party inspections into the environmental oversight and law enforcement process, thereby fostering steady progress in energy conservation and emission reduction of enterprises while ensuring the quality of regional environment. In 2023, over 1,400 online inspections and 31 days of cruise monitoring were conducted in TEDA, uncovering more than 2,000 issues, all of which were comprehensively rectified.

“We are always vigilant about the online data. While the platform can detect certain issues, normal data doesn’t necessarily indicate the absence of problems.” noted an official from TEDA Ecology and Environment Bureau. In 2023, in order to help enterprises solve the environmental problems in their development and further optimize business environment, TEDA organized a comprehensive “online + offline” environmental “checkup” for local enterprises, involving experts, environmental law enforcement officers and environmental protection personnel, to help enterprises identify and address environmental issues timely and thereby reduce legal risks related to environmental protection.

According to reports, many companies entrust their environmental protection work to third-party service providers. To enhance transparency and fairness in environmental services for the environmental needs of enterprises within the zone, and to strengthen the regulation of third-party service providers, TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform provides a “Self-Service Information Disclosure Platform for Third-Party Environmental Service Agencies”. Here, companies can access various information including performance, comprehensive evaluations, reports on legal violations, and service projects of third-party agencies to make informed decisions. Currently, the platform has registrations from 195 third-party environmental service agencies across 10 categories, involving pollution control, online equipment maintenance, environmental impact assessments and consulting, and low-carbon services, with over 1,500 disclosed service projects. This approach effectively addresses the information asymmetry between companies and third-party service providers, creating a new ecological governance model led by the market, regulated by the government, and participated by enterprises.

To better serve enterprises, particularly considering the high turnover rate of environmental protection staff within companies, TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform has established a database of environmental laws and regulations. This database collects and updates laws, policies, and relevant standards in the environmental field for free access by local enterprises. This initiative significantly enhances the integration of the informatization of administrative management and the rule of law.

TEDA also regularly conducts online and offline training sessions to strengthen the legal awareness of knowing, understanding and abiding by the law among enterprise employees, and helps enterprises understand and master the latest environmental protection laws and regulations and relevant compliance requirements to standardize their environmental management practices.

As an important tool in urban environmental management, TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform has continuously improved its functions since its establishment in 2009, completing 3 upgrades with an ever-expanding service scope. The platform is currently undergoing its 4th upgrade, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. By then, a brand-new TEDA Smart Environmental Protection Platform will better serve urban environmental management and development to promote green and low-carbon production among enterprises.