We are aiming to become DMF-free by 2025

DMF (Dimethyl Formamide) has strong solubility to many organic substances and is completely miscible with water. It is often used as a solvent for polymer materials and resin. In the PU Leather industry, this has long been a widely used organic solvent. At PONY, we have never neglected the impact of the organic solvent on the environment and even on the health of end consumers.

Since 1984, PONY has set up a distillation tower for DMF recovery. DMF has excellent solubility in water, but after a period of operation in a wet scrubber, the efficiency of liquid absorption will be due to the fact that a certain amount of DMF has been dissolved in the stripping liquid. Gradually decreases. At the same time, the DMF washed at a high concentration is easily stripped off by the stripping of the low-concentration exhaust gas. Our engineers designed a process that uses a gas-liquid counter-current, three-stage (3 series) packed packing tower to ensure DMF emissions are minimized.

Tremendous progress has been made in the last 10 years

In addition to recycling and reducing emissions, PONY understands that reducing the use of DMF from the process is the fundamental solution. Our R&D staff has been focusing on reducing the use of DMF in the process. The DMF content of PONY’s products has dropped from over 2,000 ppm before 2008 to below 500 ppm. Our R&D team is working towards the goal of zero organic solvent processes.

We have implemented an aggressive strategy to reduce water consumption

Water is a precious life-giving resource for our planet. In recent years, the impact of global climate change is tipping the balance between water supply and demand. As a global citizen, PONY is taking concrete action to expand new resources and cut down on consumption to ensure sustainable production.

Through the improvement of the manufacturing process, we reduce the water consumption per unit of production. Through recycle and reuse, we reduce the usage of fresh water from the nature. In recent years, the amount of water in the Changhua factory has been decreasing. In the short period of two years from 2017 to 2019, our total water consumption has decreased by nearly half.

In the new factory to be launched, we have built rainwater recycling facility to introduce diversified water resources. We hope that we will expand our production capacity steadily under the premise of protecting the earth’s resources.

We have drastically reduced our air pollution since 2016

Pony strives to reduce air pollution with the best technology available so that various air pollutants can be treated effectively and concentrations of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere can meet or surpass governmental standards.

Since 2015, we have installed Pollution Prevention Equipment (cyclone & bag dust collector) at the back end of the boiler process. In recent years, we have improved cleaning. The proportion of energy used to reduce emissions of related pollutants. In addition to replacing fuel or installing anti-fouling equipment, PONY also optimizes the process, improves process efficiency, reduces waste, and reduces fuel consumption to achieve the goal of reducing waste. Our use of heavy oil has fallen sharply by nearly 60% from 2016 to 2019, with a combination of improved clean energy ratios and process improvements.

More will be achieved at the new PONY factory scheduled to operate in 2020

Although the emissions of PONY in the relevant processes have met the environmental requirements of the authorities, we expect that the operation of the company can coexist with the environment, and the gas pollutants will be collected and burned (TO, Thermal Oxidation) in the planning of the new factory. Significantly reduce particulate emissions and recycle heat to specifically support our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and usage of renewable energy are part of our strategy

In the face of a changing global climate, Pony has made efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Responding to climate change is the responsibility of a sustainable business. Pony strives to become part of the green production by continuing to use energy more efficiently and by using renewable energy. Pony has made continuous improvement in energy saving and carbon reduction. All improvement experience is applied as the best available technology to reach maximum energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

PONY joined the ITRI industrial energy-saving project. Under the efforts of our engineers and R&D personnel, we have greatly improved the power consumption and heat consumption per unit products. The electricity consumption has decreased by more than 20% from 6,775,200kWH in 2015 to 4,174,200  kWH in 2018.

In the new Yunlin factory we are about to start, we are establishing a solar-energy power system to make use of the sunny weather in Taiwan and increase the use of renewable energy.

Recycling and use of recycled materials is at the heart of PONY’s operations

Pony’s principle in waste management is to continuously reuse resources. As the Company’s production and R&D continues to increase in scale, Pony prevents corresponding increases in waste production and the potential impact on the environment by following the guidelines of “Minimal waste production, maximum continuous reuse of resources.”

In the production process, the pallets, cartons, PE membranes and paper tubes that we use are all from recycled material. Used empty barrels and leather shavings are also entrusted to qualified manufacturers approved by the government authorities for recycling.