At the start of 2026, Shanghai Yangqin Environmental Technology Co Ltd on Tianchen Road in Qingpu District is operating at full capacity. As a major environmental infrastructure project in Qingpu, Yangqin is carving out a green development path from sludge "zero-landfill" to full resource recycling.

"Currently, the company's first-phase sludge disposal capacity of 300 tons per day is operating stably at full load, capable of processing all dewatered sludge from Qingpu's 10 municipal wastewater treatment plants, ensuring normalized 'zero-landfill' for regional municipal sludge," said Gao Jie,generalmanager of Yangqin Environmental Technology.

The project covers 52.3 mu of land with a total investment of 544.7 million yuan(US$78.94 million), designed for an overall capacity of 600 tons per day. Through smart design and advanced processes, it has saved 15 mu of land while reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs.

Additionally, the project's flue gas emissions meet both Shanghai and EuropeanUnionhigh standards, with advanced environmental processes ensuring no visible smoke from the chimney and comprehensive odor control throughout the facility maintaining a nuisance-free environment.

In recent years, Yangqin has continuously improved its resource utilization and energy efficiency. The facility's distributed photovoltaic system coupled with energy storage operates efficiently, generating enough electricity annually to meet 15 to 20 percent of the plant's power needs.

For sludge resource utilization, incineration ash can be transformed into raw materials for cement and concrete. A collaboration with Fudan University has developed technology to extract high-purity phosphates from the ash for agricultural fertilizer production.

Beyond achieving zero-landfill for Qingpu sludge, the company also recovers waste heat and recycles water resources, saving 1 million cubic meters of natural gas and 20,000 cubic meters of tap water annually. With the advancement of Qingpu's sludge disposal planning, the company's second-phase expansion will increase capacity to 600 tons per day, capable of meeting Qingpu's sludge disposal needs for decades to come.