Abstract
The development of more effective environmental policies is a common concern among scholars, government and the public. This paper attempts to investigate whether the environmental policy mix can really work. Taking the “Five Water Co-Treatment” policy of Zhejiang Province as an example, we applied the synthetic control method to examine the impact of multi-objective environmental policies on industrial sewage discharge and urban sewage discharge in Zhejiang. Further, we analyzed the effect of industrial value added and the length of water pipelines on sewage discharge and examined the potential environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationships. Our results of synthetic control imply that the “Five Water Co-Treatment” policy has increased the industrial and urban sewage discharge. However, the results of the extended analysis show that this is a process of standardizing sewage discharge and an embodiment of enhanced sewage treatment capacity. Therefore, we believe that the “Five Water Co-Treatment” policy is effective and should continue to advance.
Highlights
IntroductionThe situation of water environment in China has become more and more serious [1]
In recent years, the situation of water environment in China has become more and more serious [1]
Summarizing the results of the policy e ect of industrial sewage discharge and urban sewage discharge, we believe that multiple environmental policies may not achieve the desired results
Summary
The situation of water environment in China has become more and more serious [1]. E development of water pollution has spread from urban to rural areas, including pollution sources such as domestic pollution, nonpoint source pollution and industrial and mining pollutions. Since most of the water sources and reservoirs in large cities are located in the surrounding suburban towns and rural areas, water pollution in rural areas has caused potential safety risks in drinking water. Zhejiang’s water resources per unit area can be ranked fourth in China, since 80 percent of water resources are distributed in mountainous areas, Zhejiang Province, where population is concentrated and economically developed, is a key water-de cient area. Water resources in Zhejiang still have four major problems, such as large gaps in supply and demand, prominent structural contradictions, serious pollution, and low e ective utilization
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