Climate technology drives a green future, and 3M will go to the Expo for the sixth time
The 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai from 5 to 10 November 2023. As a "full-time student" of the past five CIIEs, 3M's innovative products have won wide favor from Chinese customers.
"While the CIIE allows us to commercialize our products in China, it also verifies the value of these products and gives us greater confidence." Ding Hongyu, senior vice president and president of China at 3M, told reporters.
The theme of this year's CIIE is "New Era, Shared Future". As a diversified technology innovation enterprise, 3M will make six appointments to the CIIE and appear in the special area of the technology and equipment exhibition area, focusing on the theme of "Climate Technology Empowering a Green Future", bringing a variety of global and China's first environmental protection innovative products and solutions, interpreting 3M's firm confidence and strong strength in empowering sustainable development in various fields from multiple perspectives.
Go to the appointment with strength and share the results of innovation
3M has chosen climate technology as an entry point to drive a greener future.
It's a continuation of the past. Since 1975, 3M has launched the Pollution Prevention Pays (3P Plan) to create green, energy-saving, and emission-reducing products while saving production energy by replanning products, improving production processes, designing production equipment, and recycling waste. Striving to control from the source and reduce pollution in the manufacturing process as much as possible, it has completed more than 16,300 3P projects, reduced more than 2.88 million tons of pollution, and saved more than 2.37 billion US dollars.
In its 2023 Forward-Looking Trends Insights Report released in May this year, 3M mentioned that climate change and resource scarcity are among the three major trends that will have a lasting impact on the future, with environmental damage and climate change caused by the rapid development of the global economy and the continuous reduction of natural resources, and 96% of Chinese respondents are worried about the consequences of climate change.
As a pioneer and leader in the field of sustainable development, 3M has brought a variety of innovative products related to environmental protection at this year's CIIE with its rich experience in environmental protection innovation and strong scientific research strength.
The exhibits at 3M include products for everyday use, including a 100% recycled fiber 3M™ ™ scouring pad layer, which has strong foaming and stain removal capabilities, durability and environmental friendliness. There's also the new 3M™ Post it™, made from 30% recycled paper and using leading adhesive technology to support repeated pasting for easy writing.
There are also industrial products such as fiber discs with 3M™ Cubitron™3 abrasive technology, which are breakthrough upgrades over the previous generation, which can bring up to 60% more efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the production process.
CIIE is an excellent platform to exchange and share 3M's latest environmental achievements with different industries.
"CIIE provides a good platform for enterprises and guests to understand each other, which is also the source of our continuous innovation, which gives us the confidence to continue to develop in China." Ding Hongyu is full of expectations for the 6th CIIE.
Attend appointments with sincerity and abide by environmental commitments
3M has been committed to helping industry customers save energy, reduce carbon emissions, reduce costs and increase efficiency in the generation process.
"Some of the leading vendors are actually ahead of the standard." Ding Hongyu took the initiative of steelmaking enterprises to seek to realize the transformation from coke steelmaking to hydrogen steelmaking as an example. According to the World Energy Outlook 2023 released by the International Energy Agency, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are predicted to peak in 2025; Global demand for oil, coal and natural gas will peak in 2030.
Steelmaking with hydrogen can reduce carbon emissions in the production process because hydrogen is inherently more environmentally friendly, and the industry usually uses electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen. In the process of electrolysis of water, a precious metal called iridium is used as a catalyst, but this brings new problems, iridium is a precious metal and a rare metal, which will increase the corresponding cost.
3M™ nanostructured iridium catalyst powders can effectively reduce the demand for rare precious metals such as iridium in the process of water electrolysis, greatly reduce the cost of hydrogen production, and clear the obstacles for the large-scale production and application of green hydrogen, making low-carbon or zero-carbon steelmaking possible.
"Through our own efforts, whether it is the operation of the factory or the design of new products in the future, we achieve the goal of being as green as possible. At the same time, we hope that through our own efforts, we can drive the entire industrial chain and promote upstream and downstream suppliers to jointly develop in the direction of a green future driven by climate technology. Ding Hongyu said.
Since 2015, 3M products and solutions have helped customers reduce 121 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2019, the company's water consumption has decreased by 16.8%. Since 2021, the use of petroleum-based plastics has decreased by 54.2 million pounds. For the future, in 2021, 3M proposed a long-term goal of investing $1 billion over 20 years to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce water consumption and improve water quality.
Ding Hongyu believes that the improvement of the field of sustainable development requires the joint efforts of the entire industrial chain. "We work closely with our customers, and this is made possible by the cooperation of upstream and downstream. At the level of science and technology, we can help customers achieve energy conservation, emission reduction and green goals through our own scientific and technological advantages. ”
Go to the appointment at the policy to help green China
In the past two years, 3M and many industry partners have appeared in the energy, low-carbon and environmental protection technology zone, which is also a new exhibition area set up at the CIIE in line with the current focus.
At present, the Chinese government is committed to promoting the gradual shift from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions, and more and more exhibitors are focusing on the theme of "low-carbon", which shows that "sustainable development is real development" has become a consensus. In addition to innovative technologies and materials, 3M also helps reduce carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of production and customers in all aspects of the industrial chain, starting from the production process, use, and recycling.
Talking about the impact of China's increasing requirements for environmental protection and changes in the structure of market customers on 3M, Ding Hongyu reviewed the development process of 3M from China's reform and opening up to the present and was full of confidence: "In the course of years of development, 3M has established its own institutional innovation system, which can maintain the core competitiveness of the enterprise to adapt to the different requirements in the process of policy and market changes. We hope to always be at the forefront of the development of environmental protection technology and contribute to the green development of China and the world. ”
As one of the first multinational companies to enter China, 3M has been adhering to the concept of "rooted in China, serving China" for many years, truly rooted in the local area, actively responding to China's call, and participating in China's "Belt and Road" initiative, "dual carbon" strategic goals and other Chinese solutions with practical actions. The appointment to go to the CIIE is the epitome of 3M's nearly 40 years of deep cultivation in China, which not only realizes the healthy development of its own enterprises, but also promotes the construction of green China, promotes the continuous progress of China's manufacturing industry, and realizes the "two-way travel" between the government and enterprises.
"We hope that the CIIE will continue to grow better and better, and relying on the strong platform effect and spillover effect of the CIIE, 3M hopes to continuously introduce more sustainable and high-quality innovations to the Chinese market in the future, and continue to increase investment in China, improve the layout of the local industrial chain and supply chain, so that all sectors of society can effectively benefit from the green kinetic energy given by technology." Ding Hongyu said.
