ESG Report 2024

96 In order to reduce the costs of sludge generation and outsourcing utilisation, the company invested RMB4 million to upgrade the original sludge horizontal screw centrifugal dewatering technology to the "concentration+high-pressure diaphragm filter press dewatering" technology. The project is to build a two-storey steel structure factory with a single storey building area of 912 square meters. The project will add major equipment including two sludge concentrators with a processing capacity of 110 cubic meters per hour, two sludge tanks with a volume of 75 cubic meters, two PAC dosing tanks with a volume of 25 cubic meters, and four high-pressure plate and frame filters with a filtering area of 450 square meters. The design processing capacity is 2,000 tonnes per day (for sludge and water mixture), aiming to reduce sludge generation. Inner Mongolia Company complies with the “Guiding Opinions on Improving the Capabilities of Environmental Monitoring, Utilisation and Disposal, and Environmental Risk Prevention for Hazardous Wastes” and has formulated strict treatment procedures to handle hazardous wastes, including hyphae slag, waste activated carbon, waste enzyme, concentrated phenylacetic acid, waste mineral oil and concentrated solution in Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR). In order to reduce the amount of waste discarded, Inner Mongolia Company has reused the recyclable hazardous wastes for production, such as concentrated solution of phenylaceticacid. For the hazardous wastes that could not be recycled, such as waste activated carbon, waste enzyme, and concentrated liquid in MVR, treatment for turning them into harmless wastes was made through the incineration system of Inner Mongolia Company. The waste mineral oil, which was sealed in barrels to ensure zero leakage, was transferred to the unit qualified for hazardous waste treatment for subsequent treatment. The fermented fungi residue was delivered to the qualified unit to produce organic fertilisers. In 2021, the Group set a goal to safely and harmlessly dispose of or utilise all waste, aiming to minimise environmental harm. Zhuhai Company has also actively promoted waste sorting to align with the Group's objectives. During the Year, we have achieved the safe and harmless disposal and utilization of all waste. For example, we have entrusted qualified units for the comprehensive utilisation of hazardous wastes such as hyphae slag and waste mineral oil, while the Company has self-incinerated hazardous wastes like waste activated carbon, waste enzymes, concentrated phenylacetic acid, and MVR concentrated solution from crystallisation mother liquour. Moreover, the amount of hazardous waste in the group has slightly increased this year, primarily due to an increase in production compared to last year. 10.5.4 Clean Production In order to better manage the Group's sewage discharge process, reduce pollutant emissions and avoid causing adverse effects to the environment, Inner Mongolia Company has developed cleaner production management measures to further improve cleaner production strategies, which include four key focus areas: Incorporate the results of cleaner production audit into the daily management of the company and integrate the cleaner production awareness and methods into the company's production and quality management. Through the implementation of performance appraisal and post duty system, we establish a cleaner production incentive mechanism, and link the reward and punishment measures such as employee b o n u s e s , wa g e d i s t r i b u t i o n , criticism and recognition to cleaner production performance, so as to enhance employees' eagerness to participate in cleaner production. Establish a special fund for cleaner production of enterprises and use the economic benefits generated by the implementation of cleaner production for cleaner production in the future, so as to secure the source of funds for cleaner production. This can continuously facilitate the work of cleaner production. Es t ab l i s h l ong - t e rm c l eane r production planning, and further reduce material consumption and energy consumption according to the specific conditions of the enterprise, and hence gradually recycle various energy and waste generated in the production process. Production, energy conservation and environmental protection can be equally valued. Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2024 The United Laboratories International Holdings Limited Inner Mongolia Company persists on strictly implementing clean production management methods, and maintaining production quality while gradually reducing resource consumption and pollution. We also raise employees' awareness of cleaner production, and incorporate relevant awareness into daily operations to reduce the impacts on the environment.