The Fuchun River Environmental Protection Thermal Power Plant is currently the public environmental protection enterprise in our province, with an annual waste treatment capacity of 240,000 tons. Its establishment not only saves a significant amount of land that would have been used for landfilling, but also saves 195,000 tons of standard coal annually. The waste incineration process provides 74,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity to Fuyang City every hour and concentrates heating of 500 tons per hour to over 120 nearby paper-making enterprises. On January 5th, the author visited the Fuchun River Environmental Protection Thermal Power Plant and witnessed the entire process of turning waste into treasure.

At around 10 a.m. that day, three sealed trucks loaded with domestic waste arrived at the Fuchunjiang Environmental Protection Power Plant in Fuyang City, dumping over ten tons of garbage into the 5,000-ton waste pit.

I observed on the monitoring screen in the control room: various types of domestic waste were conveyed onto the belt and sent into the shredder. Subsequently, the shredded waste was evenly mixed with nearly 20% of coal and then fed into two circulating fluidized bed incinerators, each with a daily capacity of 400 tons, for high-temperature incineration.

Fuchun River Environmental Protection Power Plant General Manager Wu Bin smiled and said, "The organic combustible materials in the garbage contain a high calorific value. Burning 5 tons of domestic waste generates as much heat as 1 ton of standard coal!"

Through incineration, the water in the boiler's pipes produces a large amount of high-pressure steam at high temperatures. The steam roars as it drives the massive steam turbine generator set, and the generated electricity is immediately connected to the city's power grid. The excess heat from the power generation is then transported to the surrounding 120+ papermaking companies through large, blue steam pipes.

The remaining slag ash is burned into blocks, which, after further processing, can be turned into new building materials or used as an additive for cement factories.

The power plant's large chimney is equipped with an internal scientific desulfurization unit. The exhaust emissions are filtered, meeting national standards, effectively reducing dust and carbon dioxide emissions, and protecting the atmosphere.

"We can sum up this complex process in one sentence: The power plant consumes waste and a small amount of coal, producing electricity and heat, with by-products being construction materials. It truly achieves comprehensive utilization of resources," said Wu Bin.

In line with the principles of the circular economy, the flow of economic activities is "resources - products - waste - recycled resources." What we see is a microcosm of the circular economy.