| This research investigates two technologies involved in Chinese industrial water pollution control: wastewater treatment systems and cleaner production. It answers three main research questions: How well are Chinese pharmaceutical factories treating their wastewater? What factors explain the difference between good, fair, and poor wastewater treatment performance in factories? And how effective a means is cleaner production as a tool for reducing industrial water pollution? The study focuses on the pharmaceutical industry.; The research utilized a case study methodology. Individual Chinese pharmaceutical factories served as cases. For the analysis of wastewater treatment systems, the study population consisted of nine factories in Shanghai, Shenyang, and Dalian. For the investigation of cleaner production, two factories, one in Shijiazhuang and one in Zibo, were cases.; A quantitative evaluation of overall wastewater treatment at nine case factories shows that most of the case factories were not treating their wastewater very well. This research identifies two inter-related reasons that explain why. First, the current institutional setting for industrial water pollution control does not provide incentives for local environmental regulators, pharmaceutical enterprises, and wastewater treatment technology providers to behave in a way that promotes good wastewater treatment. And second, local environmental regulators, enterprises, and equipment providers often lack the capabilities necessary to behave in ways that promote good wastewater treatment. Factories with better wastewater treatment performance were often the targets of focused government clean-up efforts and they also manufactured less bulk pharmaceutical product than their poor-performing counterparts.; Cleaner production projects implemented at two case factories led to notable reductions in water pollution. The economic benefits of implementing cleaner production could not be determined because economic analyses conducted by the case factory project staff were incomplete. The lack of a comprehensive economic analyses was surprising since it is commonly assumed that saving money is what motivates enterprises to implement options identified through cleaner production audits. Although the opportunity to reduce pollution and save money played some role in motivating factories to implement cleaner production options, other motivations were present because the audits were conducted as part of an international project. |
