Investigation Moves Shandong Huatai to Shut PM

Shandong Huatai Paper has halted production on a 400,000 tonne/yr newsprint PM at its flagship mill in Dongying city, Shandong province due to a pollution investigation.
A spokesperson from the firm said that PM 11 has suspended production.

The machine was supplied by Voith Paper and started up in 2005. It has a width of 10.2 m and a design speed of 2,000 m/min.
In mid-May, China's Ministry of Environment issued a circular listing several pollution cases.
According to the circular, Shandong Huatai has not properly treated sludge at its storage yard, and its landfill site does not have the necessary water treatment facilities to handle the sludge.
This is not in compliance with the country's regulations on waste treatment.
The ministry made the firm to halt production and requires it to solve the issue by the end of November.
Early last month, Shandong Huatai said the incident would not affect its production.
However, it recently announced it would suspend production on the PM, explaining that the firm planned to use the presently inadequate landfill site to handle the sludge from the unit.

Shandong Huatai has long been China's biggest newsprint producer.