(May 17, 2026) As the environmental protection improvement efforts of the domestic chemical industry continue to increase, the silica industry, as a key control area with high water consumption and high pollution, is undergoing a new round of in-depth reshuffle. A number of small and medium-sized production capacities that do not meet environmental protection standards and backward production capacity have gradually withdrawn from the market, and the industry concentration has continued to increase.

As of May 17, 23 small and medium-sized silica enterprises have been ordered to stop production and rectify due to problems such as excessive wastewater discharge, substandard dust treatment, and energy consumption exceeding control standards, and 8 enterprises have been shut down in accordance with the law because they cannot complete environmental protection transformation, involving backward production capacity of about 120,000 tons/year, accounting for 3.8% of the total domestic silica production capacity.

The environmental protection rectification focuses on the whole process of silica production, focusing on controlling the discharge of three major pollutants: wastewater, dust and solid waste. It is understood that a large amount of silicon-containing wastewater and sulfuric acid waste liquid will be produced in the traditional silica production process, which will cause serious pollution to soil and water bodies if not properly treated; At the same time, the dust generated during the production process will also affect the surrounding air quality. The rectification clearly requires that silica production enterprises must build a wastewater deep treatment system and dust recycling device to ensure that the wastewater discharge meets the "Water Pollutant Discharge Standard for the Chemical Industry", the dust emission concentration is controlled below 10mg/m³, and the energy consumption is reduced to the industry benchmark level.

Environmental protection rectification has brought profound changes to the industry pattern, and leading enterprises have become the biggest beneficiaries of the industry reshuffle by virtue of their early layout of green production and obvious technical advantages. The reporter visited a leading silica company in China and learned that as early as 2024, the company will invest 100 million yuan in environmental protection technical transformation and build a leading wastewater recycling system in China, with a wastewater reuse rate of more than 95% and a dust recycling rate of more than 98%, fully meeting the requirements of this environmental protection rectification.

"Environmental protection is not pressure, but an opportunity for high-quality development of the industry." The person in charge of environmental protection of the enterprise said that environmental protection technology transformation not only helps enterprises successfully pass the investigation, but also reduces production energy consumption and pollutant treatment costs, and enhances the market competitiveness of products. At present, the company is planning to further expand its green production capacity, add an environmentally friendly silica production line, focus on the research and development of high-end green products, and meet the market demand for environmentally friendly chemical products.

The relevant person in charge of the industry association said that this environmental protection rectification will promote the silica industry to achieve "survival of the fittest", accelerate the withdrawal of backward production capacity, and promote the improvement of industry concentration. It is expected that by the end of 2026, the CR5 (proportion of production capacity of the top 5 enterprises) in the domestic silica industry will increase from the current 45% to 58%, and the overall environmental protection level and production efficiency of the industry will be significantly improved. At the same time, environmental protection rectification will also force enterprises to increase investment in technological innovation, promote production process upgrading, gradually eliminate traditional high-pollution and high-energy consumption production models, and cultivate a number of green, low-carbon and leading enterprises with core competitiveness.

In the short term, the withdrawal of some small and medium-sized production capacity may lead to a phased adjustment of market supply, but in the long run, the standardization and green development of the industry will improve product quality and the overall competitiveness of the industry, and promote the silica industry to resonate with the downstream green development demand at the same frequency. Experts suggest that relevant enterprises should take the initiative to comply with the guidance of environmental protection policies, increase investment in environmental protection technological transformation, optimize production processes, improve the level of environmental protection governance, and actively deploy green products in order to gain a firm foothold in the industry reshuffle and achieve sustainable development.