Assessment Of Green Development Performance In A Typical Chinese Chemical Industrial Park Based On Enterprise Ecological Performance Evaluation

As an important carrier of fine chemical industry,fine chemical industrial parks’ green development is the only way to promote highquality transformation of the industry.Comprehensive evaluation of green performance in the park is of great significance to facilitate quality and efficiency improvement of chemical industry.Taking Hangzhou Bay Shangyu Economic and Technological Development Area(HSEDA),a typical fine chemical industrial park with an annual output value of 100 billion yuan as the case,by tracking the performance of fine chemical enterprises from 2011 to 2019,covering 27 annual indicators of economy,environment and resources,and effectively integrating decoupling index,data envelopment analysis(DEA),and linear econometric model,this study aims to explore the paradigm of green development in the park from multiple levels and dimensions,identify its key influencing factors,and put forward suggestions on green performance improvement.The key findings are:(1)the fine chemical industrial park has witnessed a volatile paradigm of decoupling between economic growth and environmental pressure during the past decade,with a decoupling index of-2.2-12.4;(2)the ecological development level of the park is low,with an average eco-efficiency of 0.23–0.35;and pharmaceutics production in particular needs a leapfrog to improve its performance substantially because 84%–95% of them under-performed the average;(3)pollutants emission plays a decisive role in affecting enterprises’ eco-efficiency,and water pollutants work more in first half decade and air pollutants overturn in the second half;and(4)the fine chemical industry has made remarkable achievement in pollution control,with the reduction rate of water pollutants reaching over 90%,but the marginal effect of control investment on water pollutants reductions has declined;while air pollutants reduction rate and marginal effect are still in climb stage.Based on the empirical analysis,this study proposes that:(1)fine chemical manufacturers are supposed to enforce a paradigm shift from endof-pipe to systematic emissions control,promoting the joint effort of source,process and end treatment;(2)local authorities and enterprises managers are recommended to establish environmental knowledge sharing and learning channel among leading manufacturers and later comers,and foster supply chain and industrial symbiosis in the park;(3)fine chemical industrial parks should extend present products network towards green and high-value added downstream chemicals,along with innovation of clean technology and pollution prevention targeting existing chemicals.