In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China's environmental protection industry underwent a comprehensive upgrade.

2026 marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan for Ecological and Environmental Protection. China's environmental protection industry is rapidly shifting from end-of-pipe treatment to a new stage of systematic governance characterized by intelligence, resource utilization, low carbon emissions, and services.

The Central Environmental Protection Special Fund (65 billion yuan) has been launched.

Key investment areas include: short-process steelmaking, cement energy conservation, chemical VOCs, livestock and poultry farming, rural black and odorous water bodies, and ultra-low emission retrofitting.

Supporting measures include: 20-30 year ultra-low interest government bonds to support enterprise environmental upgrades.

Smart environmental protection is becoming standard.

Digital twins: The Yangtze River ecological digital twin integrates data from 15 departments, monitoring over 500 indicators in real time, supporting precise governance.

Intelligent monitoring: High-end environmental monitoring instruments, IoT + AI are rapidly penetrating the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in park/watershed governance.

Resource utilization is becoming the core of profitability (second growth curve).

Hazardous waste/industrial solid waste: high-value utilization (steel slag/fly ash to build materials, waste salt resource utilization).

New energy recycling: recycling waste batteries to extract nickel, cobalt, and lithium, driven by both policy and resource prices.

Kitchen waste/ Construction Waste: Black soldier fly biological treatment and recycled construction waste aggregate models are being implemented.

Equipment Manufacturing Boom

Dust Removal/Flue Gas Purification: Intensive bidding for ultra-low emission retrofitting of coal-fired power plants and waste incineration plants, with domestic orders booked until the second half of the year; strong overseas demand due to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Challenge-Based Development: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released 27 major environmental protection equipment innovation tasks, with 118 companies shortlisted, focusing on pain points such as high-salinity wastewater, new pollutants, and biological deodorization.

2026 Industry Main Themes

Standard Upgrading: Air, water, and solid waste standards are tightening across the board, creating rigid demand for upgrading and retrofitting.

Model Transformation: Upgrading from engineering construction to integrated service providers of operation services + resource utilization + carbon management.

Technology-Driven: Digital twins, membrane separation, biological treatment, CCUS, and other technologies are accelerating industrialization.

Policy Dividends: 65 billion yuan in special funds, expansion of the carbon market, and continued release of green finance.