On Dec. 29, 2011, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the PRC released the first list of rare earth enterprises that meet the environmental protection standards. 84 enterprises in 14 provinces were submitted to be verified; however, merely 15 of them got passed, with a low passing rate of 17%. It is very obviously to see that, the overall level of environmental protection in rare earth industry is relatively low, with severe problems such as environmental pollution and ecological damage.

Most of qualified enterprises are located in southern China where the heavy rare earth resource is rich. There are only two qualified enterprises in northern China, one in Beijing and the other in Liaoning. That is to say, the level of rare earth industry environmental protection in Northern China does not meet the requirements widespread.

Notably, those enterprises that failed to meet the standards will encounter with strict policy restraints in capacity expansion, project financing and special funds application etc. and even face with punishment of shutdown, which will improve the environmental protection level of rare earth industry in the medium and long term, also push forward the elimination of outdated capacity and optimization of industrial structure.

List of Rare Earth Enterprises that Meet the Environmental Protection Standards (First Batch)

Source: Ministry of Environmental Protection; ResearchInChina