Guizhou enterprise turns trash into treasure

Guizhou Phosphate Group's factory in Guyang county, Guiyang. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

Guizhou Phosphate Group – located in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province – has achieved success in high-end, green and intensive development through scientific and technological innovation.

"Guizhou is one of the most important phosphorus chemical industry bases in China," said Jin Gang, vice president of the Guizhou Chemical Industry Association. The annual mining volume of ore has decreased from 20 million metric tons to 15 million tons, but the total industrial output value has achieved an average annual growth rate of more than 10 percent in three years, and profits have increased by more than 30 times.

More than one quarter of the world's new energy battery materials – ternary precursors – and one quarter of the country's phosphate fertilizer are produced in Guizhou.

Scientific researchers study new phosphate products. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]

Qiu Zujun, director of the Science and Technology Management Department of Guizhou Phosphate Group stated that their anhydrous hydrogen fluoride was selected as the national 'single champion of the manufacturing industry'. The group's technology and output rank first in the world, and it has an annual output of 180,000 tons, with an output value of 1.8 billion yuan ($266.62 million).

In addition, the group's wet-process purified phosphoric acid, another single champion product, ranks first in the world in terms of production capacity, producing 1.6 million tons.

However, for phosphorus chemical enterprises, the comprehensive utilization of phosphogypsum – a waste byproduct of phosphate ore – is an obstacle that would restrict the healthy development of the phosphorus chemical industry for a long time.

However, in 2021, the group utilized 1.51 million tons of phosphogypsum while researching new building materials. This accounts for 16 percent of the total consumption of phosphogypsum in Guizhou province.

It is reported that the group has 76 patents related to green phosphogypsum building materials, and has built three parks that focus on phosphogypsum new building materials.

From an "industrial by-product" to "new building material", Guizhou's new phosphogypsum building materials are a sign that it is possible to transform waste into treasure. It has contributed to Guizhou's ongoing efforts to solve the industry's phosphogypsum problem.

Staff members of the group inspect production lines. [Photo/colorful Guizhou network]