The Beijing plants of US soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been listed as among the top 12 factories causing major water pollution in China’s capital, the city government has announced.
The list issued by the Beijing Development and Reform Commission, the capital’s economic planning agency, was published along with the top 15 energy users in the capital, which included the Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler plant.
China has set a goal of reducing average energy consumption by 20 percent from 2006 to next year. This means it has to cut average consumption by 4 percent annually over the five-year period — a target it has so far failed to meet.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“[This year] is a key year for fulfilling our energy-saving and pollution-reduction goals,” the commission said in a statement on its Web site, cited by the Beijing News yesterday.
The 27 entities will be subject to increased supervision and asked to submit plans to reduce energy use and pollution emissions, the commission said.
PepsiCo-Beijing and Coca-Cola-Beijing refused immediate comment on the issue yesterday.
The Beijing News quoted Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler as saying it would this year “step up the scope of reducing energy use and emissions, saving energy and treating waste water and waste through technological upgrading.”
The Tsingtao brewery in Beijing, top juice maker Huiyuan and several major Chinese dairy producers were also included on the list of major water polluters.
Top energy users were the Capital Iron and Steel Corporation and the US chemical company Praxair.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
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