Agreement Reached

Meanwhile.

Lin Baijie, who was in charge of company operations, received the deep recycling process and was currently pondering how to turn a profit.

Jiang Hailin, the team leader of the technology conversion group, was astonished after reviewing the series of technologies, as the technologies mastered by Suiren Company were enough to create a massive industry.

"General Manager Lin, I think we could find some factories that need to discharge waste and partner with them."

Lin Baijie adjusted his glasses: "Explain the specific operation."

"Those large factories have massive waste discharge and are key targets for environmental protection departments. Just the sewage treatment equipment alone starts at several million, and then there are annual expenditures for electricity, sedimentation and decomposition consumables, management fees, and so on—it's another huge expense."

Lin Baijie was aware of this; he had encountered such needs at his previous jobs at Xinfa Aluminum and Electricity and a Toyota joint venture factory.

"As far as I know, the Xinli Electronics Factory in Shanmei is a major industrial wastewater producer. They spend over seven million annually just on crude wastewater treatment. A classmate of mine works there, and I heard that Xinli Electronics Factory is considering importing a set of professional sewage treatment equipment from abroad this year, with the other party quoting 34 million USD."

"34 million USD? Those foreigners really know how to gouge people," Lin Baijie couldn't help but remark.

Jiang Hailin continued: "Perhaps we should consider it. After all, the equipment alone is 34 million USD, and with the future consumables and electricity costs, I estimate the total won't be low."

Feeling that there was room to maneuver, Lin Baijie nodded: "Indeed. Let's talk to Xinli Electronics Factory; I believe they won't refuse."

Xinli Electronics Factory.

General Manager's office.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," General Manager Lin Bin said without looking up.

The assistant opened the door, walked in, and handed over a document: "General Manager Lin, Suiren Company just sent us a partnership inquiry email. Here are the specific details."

"Suiren Company? Is that the Suiren Company that collects trash?"

"Yes, that's the company."

After glancing at the email content, Lin Bin was somewhat surprised, as Suiren Company actually wanted to contract the sewage and industrial waste treatment for Xinli Electronics Factory.

"General Manager Lin, we might want to consider it. After all, Korte's quote is too high, and the other annual expenses aren't low either," the assistant suggested cautiously.

"Do they have the technology? I don't want the sewage to fail standards and get us fined."

The assistant hurriedly replied: "A few days ago, their company was on the national news, and their chairman even drank the treated water himself. The technology should be decent."

Lin Bin hesitated for a moment: "Then schedule a time with them and see what they quote."

"No problem."

Since Xinli Electronics Factory showed interest in negotiating, both sides quickly set a meeting time.

August 15th.

In the sweltering summer, the air was filled with an inescapable heat.

Lin Baijie and Jiang Hailin, representing Suiren Company, arrived at the intersection of Shanmei Avenue and Xiangcheng Road. The meeting place agreed upon by both parties was the Paris Peninsula Hotel, which belonged to the Xinli Group.

Inside a business suite on the second floor.

Over the past few days, Lin Bin had taken the time to learn about Suiren Company. Although it was a trash recycling company, its capital was not weak.

The Suiren Company chairman's recent donation of 500 million alone was enough to prove that the company was not short on funds.

After a few minutes of pleasantries, Lin Bin probed: "Does your company truly possess the technology to treat electronic sewage and waste?"

"That goes without saying. If the contract is signed and we fail to deliver, we would be required to pay your company liquidated damages," Lin Baijie replied confidently.

Lin Bin thought that made sense; once the contract was signed, if Suiren Company breached it, Xinli Group would certainly demand compensation. He then continued:

"Then what is your company's quote for the equipment?"

"Our company does not sell the equipment. Instead, we contract the sewage discharge for Xinli Electronics Factory, including sewage and solid waste, but excluding exhaust gas."

Lin Bin's expression turned strange; this type of contracting was quite rare: "Then what is the cost? How do you charge?"

"Based on the current scale of Xinli Electronics Factory, the treatment fee is 30 million per year. If Xinli Electronics Factory expands its scale in the future, we will need to discuss an increase in the treatment fee."

"30 million a year? That's too high," Lin Bin shook his head.

Lin Baijie then brought up another condition: "Your company hasn't considered another factor: the reuse of treated wastewater, which can reduce the factory's water bills."

"That wouldn't be much! Industrial water currently only costs two yuan per cubic meter," another vice general manager of Xinli Electronics Factory countered.

Lin Baijie smiled: "Haha, can your company's water be used directly? As far as I know, part of the production water for an electronics factory requires purified water. The treatment costs for that purified water aren't low, right?"

"Are you saying the water treated by Suiren Company is purified water?" the vice general manager questioned.

Lin Baijie took a test report out of his briefcase and handed it over: "These are the test reports for our treated water from three third-party testing agencies. I guarantee to everyone here that if it doesn't meet the purified water standard, it will count as a breach of contract on our part."

"But this price..."

Both sides argued their cases. After some haggling, they finally settled on an annual treatment fee of 24 million, with a five-year contract.

As for Xinli Electronics Factory, they needed to provide their own sewage storage tanks, purified water storage tanks, and install pipes and pumping equipment according to Suiren Company's design plan.

As for other solid waste, it would all be piled in a warehouse, and Suiren Company would be notified to haul it away periodically.

According to the terms of the contract, unless there was force majeure, Suiren Company could not suspend pollutant treatment without cause, and they were required to ensure the water quality met the standards.

As for Xinli Group, the pollution treatment fees must be paid in advance on a monthly basis. If the fees are not paid on time, Suiren Company has the right to unilaterally terminate the contract and demand liquidated damages.

Once the contract was signed, Xinli Electronics Factory received a design plan and began preparing the sewage tanks, water purification tanks, pipelines, and pumping equipment.

On the other side.

Lin Baijie took his team and headed non-stop toward two other factories.

These two factories were Dechang Company, a peer of Xinli Electronics Factory, and Lingfeng Paper Industry.

The electronics plant of Dechang Company and the paper mill of Lingfeng Paper Industry were both located in Pubian Town, not far from the headquarters of Suiren Company.

After a round of negotiations, they signed a pollution treatment contract with Dechang Company for 12 million per year, and a contract with Lingfeng Paper Industry for 7.2 million per year.

These three contracts would bring Suiren Company an annual income of 43.2 million.

After Huang Xiuyuan reviewed the contracts, he did not pay much attention to them. These companies did not yet realize that once the new Environmental Protection Law was introduced in 2014, coupled with the government's push to eliminate backward production capacity, they would understand the importance of Suiren Company.

Factories that became highly dependent on Suiren Company for pollution treatment would have to consider the stance of Suiren Company, unless they were willing to make a painful decision to handle pollution treatment independently.

However, doing so would clearly be more trouble than it was worth.

The first problem was the massive one-time expenditure for equipment; the second problem was that operating costs might be even higher than the fees charged by Suiren Company; the third was that their pollutant treatment might not reach the level of Suiren Company.

Once the pollution treatment of a factory was controlled, it was equivalent to holding the factory's kidneys; without Suiren Company, they might have to pack up and go home for good.