ADB signs loan to finance SUS Environment's waste-to-energy project in PRC

ADB’s loan to SUS will expand the PRC’s low-carbon circular economy and make cities more livable, through integrated urban waste management systems.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $100 million loan with Shanghai SUS Environment Company Limited (SUS) to finance a portfolio of innovative and socially inclusive waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities within low carbon eco-industrial parks (EIPs) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  

This marks ADB’s first eco-industrial park waste-to-energy project. The project will utilize state-of-the-art incineration and emission treatment technologies, treat municipal solid waste (MSW) sustainably, supply clean electricity to the grid, and have the potential to supply power and steam to treat different types of waste within the EIPs. 

ADB’s loan to SUS will expand the PRC’s low-carbon circular economy and make cities more livable, through integrated urban waste management systems. The project will mitigate climate change through increased renewable energy generation and reduction of landfill-generated methane.

“SUS is a pioneer in the PRC’s environmental protection industry. SUS’s waste-to-energy facilities can meet stringent air emissions standards, recycle resources within the eco-industrial parks, and are community-centric with its onsite waste museums and artistic architectures,” said Infrastructure Finance Division Director for Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific at ADB's Private Sector Operations Department Mr Jackie Surtani. 

“The cooperation with ADB will help SUS to accelerate the development of multiple projects and enable us to provide better services to the people and government where WTE projects are needed. SUS welcomes this unique opportunity to establish a long-term partnership with ADB,” said Mr Long Jisheng, SUS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

The PRC is the world’s largest producer of MSW, generating about 215 million tons in 2017. This is expected to increase to 500 million tons per year by 2025. The facilities to be financed under this project will utilize clean and state-of-the-art incineration technology to process about 4,800 tons of MSW per day. Overall, the WTE facilities will treat 1.75 million tons of MSW, generate 437.5 gigawatt-hours of clean energy, and reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by about 1.17 million tons annually.

The project will also generate 150 new jobs, including over 30 new jobs to women in operations and open career opportunities through technical training to female staff.

Established in 2008, SUS is a leading environmental protection company headquartered in Shanghai. SUS provides equipment and design capacity for grate incineration technology for WTE plants and develops and operates WTE plants and eco-industrial parks in the PRC. SUS is a licensee of Hitachi Zosen Corporation, a leading global WTE engineering company with more than 820 WTE units in commercial operations globally. CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co., Ltd. invested in SUS in 2014 and is SUS’s largest shareholder.