A total of 583 lead battery manufacturing plants in China have been closed after government authorities conducted a series of inspections earlier this year in an effort to reduce heavy metal pollution.
In a statement, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) says a total of 1,930 lead battery production, assembly and recycling plants have been inspected as of July 2010.
Of these plants, 252 were given permission to continue operating and 80 were still under construction. Operations for 1,015 of the plants were suspended, the MEP says, adding that the names of all of the plants have been publicized.
According to the MEP, many of the plants were closed because they had small production scales and poor technical standards, while others were closed for improperly disposing of pollution or for poor management practices.
The lead battery plant overhaul was initiated in March 2011 by nine Chinese government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the MEP.
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