Currently, China's economic and social development has entered a high-quality stage characterized by accelerated green and low-carbon transformation. The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization" adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly sets the reform goal of "focusing on building a beautiful China and accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development"; the Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2024 and this year's "Government Work Report" have also made important deployments for jointly promoting carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green development and growth, and have also set higher requirements for accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.
Stable industrial policies, combined with technological, material and equipment innovations led by enterprises, have continuously unleashed the potential of downstream market demand. According to the "2024-2029 China Industrial Wastewater Treatment Industry Market in-depth Research and Development Prospects Investment Feasibility Analysis Report", the scale of China's industrial wastewater treatment market was 82.32 billion yuan in 2024 and is expected to rise to a trillion-dollar market by 2028.
As an important driving force for the development of the wastewater treatment industry, technological innovation naturally becomes a new engine for industry growth. Especially, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has made significant progress since its inception and has gradually become the mainstream technology in the wastewater treatment field, with a significant increase in market penetration rate. According to data from Global Market Insights: In 2023, the penetration rate of MBR technology in municipal wastewater treatment plants in China has reached 35%, and the growth rate in the industrial wastewater treatment field is even as high as 40%.
It is worth noting that recently, Enjie Co., Ltd. has made another significant breakthrough in the field of wastewater treatment. Its subsidiary, Shanghai Hengjie Yuan New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hengjie Yuan"), has innovatively developed a PE-MBR membrane module with over 70% recyclability, which has been officially put into use. This move will not only significantly reduce the operation and maintenance costs of MBR membranes, accelerate the popularization process of MBR technology on the market, but also provide new impetus for the green transformation of economic and social development.
Membrane water treatment method is highly favored. The advantages and disadvantages of MBR membrane technology coexist.
Each year, China discharges over 75 billion tons of wastewater. Membrane treatment accounts for more than 95% of the country's wastewater resource utilization rate. Compared with traditional water treatment methods, membrane water treatment has many advantages such as low energy consumption for separation, small land occupation, simple process, wide application range and good water quality.
Under the current situation of increasingly scarce water resources, MBR membrane technology has been continuously innovated and improved, becoming one of the mainstream technologies in modern wastewater treatment. Currently, MBR membrane technology is widely applied in urban wastewater treatment, wastewater treatment in the food and pharmaceutical industries, seawater desalination, and oilfield wastewater treatment, etc. The market size is constantly increasing. According to statistics, the global MBR membrane market has exceeded 12.3 billion US dollars in 2023, and the demand for MBR membranes in China accounts for nearly 45% of the global market share.
Although MBR membrane technology has demonstrated wide applicability and high efficiency, it also faces some technical challenges and problems. For instance, membrane fouling can lead to a decrease in MBR membrane flux, thereby affecting the treatment efficiency; additional energy input is required to overcome the resistance during the membrane filtration stage, which results in higher total energy consumption, etc.
Not only that, the commonly used PVDF and PTFE membrane materials in the current MBR technology also have limitations in chemical resistance and are prone to aging, which will shorten the lifespan of the membrane components. Moreover, frequent backwashing and chemical cleaning are required to reduce the decline in treatment efficiency caused by membrane contamination. This undoubtedly increases the operation and maintenance costs as well as the replacement costs for wastewater treatment.
Based on addressing the numerous challenges in MBR technology, Hengjie Yuan focuses on the research, development, manufacturing, sales and service of filtration membrane products, membrane modules and membrane separation technologies. It fully leverages its innovative capabilities in membrane separation materials, achieving multiple technological breakthroughs in formula development, process preparation, and structural design. Relying on PE-MBR membrane products, it provides comprehensive solutions from membrane components to membrane engineering for the wastewater treatment industry.
Overcoming multiple technical barriers, the core advantages of PE-MBR membranes are remarkable.
Based on the existing research and development of polymer materials, Hengjie Yuan has successfully overcome the technologies such as dual hydrophilic modification of PE membranes, control of pore size distribution, and interface polymerization. The PE-MBR membrane (membrane module) not only integrates the advantages of PE materials, such as large production volume, low cost, and resistance to strong acids and alkalis, but also overcomes its disadvantages of strong hydrophobicity, easy oxidation, and low strength. It has significant advantages in terms of hydrophilicity, economy, and versatility, and has promoted the large-scale commercial application of MBR technology in the field of water treatment.
The PE-MBR membrane unit developed by Hengjieyuan adopts an innovative modular design concept. Its core components, including the sealing ring, the sealing frame, the outer support frame, the inner support frame, the partition ring, and the collecting pipe, are all made of high durability materials. This design has enabled the product's service life to be significantly extended to over 10 years. What's more remarkable is that this design transforms the traditional maintenance mode that requires overall replacement into a simpler mode that only requires the replacement of the MBR membrane sheet, which can also significantly reduce the replacement cost and make a "big reduction" in the operating expenses for users, effectively alleviating the burden on users.
In addition to demonstrating outstanding performance in terms of replacement cost, Hengjieyuan PE-MBR membrane module also makes significant progress in lightweight design. The product weight is reduced by approximately 30% compared to similar products, and it supports flexible modular assembly. This innovation completely resolves the compatibility issues existing in traditional membrane modules. Whether it is a new project or an upgrade of an old system, seamless integration can be achieved, providing unprecedented convenience for the upgrading and transformation of water treatment facilities.
At present, Hengjieyuan has completed the patent layout for the entire PE-MBR membrane industrial chain, covering multiple key links such as materials, processes, structures and performance design. As of now, it holds over 15 authorized patents and more than 25 patent applications. These patented technologies not only ensure the outstanding performance of the products, but also build a solid technical moat, providing a core guarantee for the products to maintain a leading position in the fierce market competition.
Compared with similar products, the Hengjieyuan PE-MBR membrane also demonstrates better cost advantages and performance advantages. It has the same operating flux as flat membrane products, and does not require backwashing in normal operation, resulting in low operating costs. In contrast to hollow fiber membrane products, its investment cost is comparable, but the replacement cost is lower.
The sewage treatment industry is opening up new prospects. Enji Co., Ltd. has seized the initiative.
By establishing a holding subsidiary to develop PE-MBR products and thereby entering the high-speed and efficient wastewater treatment market, Enjia Co., Ltd. has not only achieved another breakthrough in its technological research and development, but also demonstrated its attempts and explorations in new fields.
Currently, Hengjieyuan's PE-MBR membrane products have been widely applied in urban sewage treatment, food, automotive parts and other related fields, becoming an important measure for the company to further expand its business territory. At the same time, several production bases under Enjie Co., Ltd. adopt the MBR membrane technology produced by the company itself. This not only improves the effluent standards and reduces operating costs, but also serves as a typical demonstration of the company's membrane technology application.
With the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the demand for clean water resources is increasing day by day. Reverse osmosis membrane products have also gained wide popularity in the market. As one of the core technologies in the field of water treatment, the efficient filtration performance of RO membranes plays an irreplaceable role in seawater desalination, industrial wastewater treatment, and drinking water purification.
This move to enter the wastewater treatment sector is a true reflection of Enji Company's utilization of its own resource advantages, its willingness to assume social responsibilities, and its efforts to promote resource utilization and low-carbon development. It is also a practical evidence of its continuous pursuit of diversified business development.
With the country's intensified policies for the sewage treatment industry, coupled with the accelerated urbanization process in China and the continuous innovation and upgrading of sewage treatment technologies, the market prospects of the sewage treatment industry in our country are becoming increasingly broad. This has given Enji Co., Ltd. an advantage in seizing the opportunities for green transformation and development as well as the sewage treatment market.