Accelerate Our Growth Momentum through Circular Economy

As sustainability gains wider popularity around the world, traditional linear economy model has been gradually replaced by that of circular economy. This can be clearly seen from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations in 2015, which includes 17 goals and 169 targets that serve as guidance for all countries to shift their practices towards sustainable development, zero waste, and shared environment and resources. Against this backdrop, ECOVE— the brand name for CTCI’s Group Resource Cycling Business and a firm believer in "Every Resource Counts"—is committed to providing high-quality circular economy services worldwide. To do so, the company relentlessly establishes its presence in three core fields: waste management and Energy-from-Waste (EfW), recycling and reuse, and renewable energy. This effort is combined with four brand association concepts—"resource cycling efficiency™," "intelligent and data-driven operational systems," "participation in national and regional agenda and policies," and "community collaboration and contributions." ECOVE’s continued drive to create sustainable values for itself has brought, and will continue to bring, positive impact for the Earth’s sustainable development.

A Vision to Realize Circular Economy through Our Three Core Business Fields

Thanks to thriving business opportunities in the circular economy and green energy sectors, ECOVE has repeatedly achieved excellent results in its three core business fields. Waste management and EfW now sees steady increase in revenue. The prospect of recycling and reuse, and renewable energy, on the other hand, is even more promising, and can help accelerate its future growth for sure.

1. Waste management and EfW

With more than 20 years of extensive experience in waste management and EfW, ECOVE is the first environmental resources management service company in Taiwan to export localized technologies overseas. A prime example showing how ECOVE's daily operations have been closely attached to its brand associations is the improvement of "resource cycling efficiency" and rigorous adoption of "intelligent and data-driven operational systems," which allowed waste treatment to be optimized, achieving outstanding results. For instance, the EfW load of the Gangshan EfW Plant has now been increased by about 77%, while the operating efficiency of the Macau Solid Waste Incineration Center has increased by more than 70% compared with the previous service supplier. Thanks to ECOVE's in-house intelligent operation and maintenance system (iO&M), EfW plants are now smarter and can maintain best operating efficiency.

In terms of business development, ECOVE has recently secured two new BOT projects, which are Taoyuan City Biomass Center and Changhua Coastal Industrial Park Resource Treatment Center. These two waste-treatment plant construction projects adopt or follow processing technologies, energy conversion efficiency, and emission norms in line with international standards, ensuring “circular economy” can be realized and achieving substantial economic, social, environmental, and green energy benefits. In regard to the domestic EfW market, ECOVE’s business goals are to leverage its expertise and track records to help clients set up new plants, extend the service lifetime of existing plants, and boost plant efficacy through revamping work. As for overseas markets, ECOVE took its experiences in Taiwan and tapped into the Chinese market through provision of third-party plant supervision services, the prime example of which is the Shanghai Old Port (Laogang) Renewable Energy Utilization Center, the world's largest incineration plant. Besides China, ECOVE also set foot on the Southeast Asian market to explore collaboration opportunities with local businesses. 

Lastly, ECOVE pays close attention to new trends in the industry and actively conducts technological research and development. One example is the research on water-washing of fly ash for reuse purposes. Such research and development is part of ECOVE’s effort to deal with the issue of final products from incineration.

2. Recycling and reuse

One of the keys to transform a linear economy to a circular one is to make investments in resource recycling and reuse. In this regard, ECOVE is able to achieve business sustainability through "resource cycling efficiency™" — a commitment of improving the integration and application of its technologies. Take the recycling and reuse of waste isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as an example, as the world's major semiconductor production and manufacturing center, Taiwan has a booming semiconductor industry, and the demand for electronic-grade chemical solvents is increasing every year. So does the amount of waste solvent. Thanks to the mastery of waste IPA recycling technology through technological integration, ECOVE established ECOVE Solvent Recycling Corporation in 2018 to devote itself to this field. The purity of waste solvents after concentration and purification now reaches industrial grade, allowing it to be able to be reused in industrial processes. 

In addition, owning to Taiwan’s long-standing water shortage problems, ECOVE has extensive track records in “water resources recycling and reuse,” including three indicative fields: sewage treatment, river channel improvement, and reclaimed water resources. It is experienced in the construction and operation of water resources recycling centers, sewer systems, sewage treatment plants, and reclaimed water plants, which help clients to remove water pollutants from liquids for further recycling, so as to achieve the goals of environmental protection and resource reuse. 

ECOVE makes several efforts in terms of developing its business markets. One effort is to continue to strengthen "participation in environmental policies and issues" and put forward suitable suggestions for waste management policies. This is its response to the increasing demand for waste sorting in Taiwan, a country that is already a role model in resource recycling. Secondly, BoReTech Co., Limited, ECOVE's investee, will also continue to optimize the cleaning process of PET bottles and continue to upgrade relevant equipment to reduce water consumption. Thirdly, in the field of semiconductor waste solvents, ECOVE will not only improve its technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the process, but will also commit to increasing the value of current industrial-grade products, as well as investing in technology research and development to maintain its leading position. Lastly, food waste treatment will become one key development direction in the future. ECOVE will provide kitchen waste treatment services in Macau to help convert waste into organic fertilizers and achieve the goal of organic matter recycling. On the other hand, it will use anaerobic digestion technology at Taiwan’s Taoyuan City Biomass Energy Center to treat food waste that contains high moisture and incombustible content. The biogas generated will be used for power generation, as a way to bring higher value for food waste.

3. Renewable energy

With more than a decade of history in renewable energy business, ECOVE has established a solid technological foundation with extensive track records. In addition to traditional power generation such as EfW plants and novel power generation such as biogas, ECOVE’s current total operating capacity of solar photovoltaic power generation has reached 68 MW, and the growth curve is still rising. Taking into account of those that are currently being constructed or developed, the figure is expected to exceed 100 MW in the future. Despite ECOVE supports Taiwanese government’s diversified energy development policy and green energy industry goals, ECOVE is confronted with challenges when it comes to setting up solar power stations: limited land. To cope with this challenge, ECOVE has sought to revitalize land assets and invested in three types of solar photovoltaic plants: rooftop, ground, and water surface types. So far, more than 50 projects have connected to grid. ECOVE now holds the record of largest installed capacity at seaports, restored landfills, and rail transit stations in Taiwan. ECOVE is also the first Taiwanese company to have been certified by the Green-e ® Energy Certification Program for its Lumberton Solar Power Plant Project in the United States, a recognition for its sustainability achievements. In terms of developing its business markets, ECOVE will aim for government tenders, work with private companies, and continue to expand operation and maintenance (O&M) businesses in the solar power sector by drawing on more than two decades of O&M expertise for EfW plants. As for overseas markets, ECOVE will seek partnership with overseas developers and financial strategists to tap into new markets targeting booming demands in the US and Southeast Asia region with sound strategies.

In addition to the three business fields above, ECOVE continues to pay attention to the policies and trends of offshore wind power and rail construction. So far, the company has achieved considerable results in jet bridges and electrical and mechanical maintenance.

Active Engagement in Environmental Policy Discussions and Agendas

Besides improving its resource cycling efficiency™ with more investments and enhancing its intelligent systems with big data, ECOVE actively engages in various environmental activities and meetings in Taiwan and abroad. This is a way ECOVE can keep up with the latest trend and set up communication networks, through which it can share its best practices, helping people around the world to contribute to the Earth’s sustainability.

Promoting Social Participation to Create Values Far Beyond Output

ECOVE believes that a company can bring much more value than simply its operational outputs. That is why it selects topics related to its businesses and its core competencies for long-term social participation. In alignment with "Total Participation CSR Excellence Practice"— the corporate social responsibility motto upheld by the parent CTCI Group— ECOVE has drawn up a blueprint for sustainability, with an aim of putting together all employees' strengths to fulfill its corporate social responsibility.

ECOVE’s social participation is volunteer-based and has three main themes: "business-related community activities," "long-term community building," and "friendly corporate volunteering." The company encourages its employees to participate in cheerful and meaningful volunteer activities as a means to contribute to the society and achieve work-life balance. For example, it has a long history helping communities beautify their surrounding environment as well as helping to clean up beaches. In addition, two of its EfW plants, which have been awarded as five-star environmental education sites, have been designated as must-visit sites for the international event "Taiwan in My Eyes-120h" each year. Moreover, through a program called "Step by Step: Factories for Sustainable Environmental Education," ECOVE collaborates with schools by sending its staff into classrooms to teach students about environmental education and sustainable lifestyles. Other examples include the Environmental Education Carnival in Miaoli, the Friendly Charity Society set up by ECOVE employees, and the advocacy and support for international initiatives. In all, these are ECOVE’s success stories that have seen the spirit of "Total Participation CSR Excellence Practice" turn into reality, where employees have integrated their core competencies with daily work in realizing corporate social responsibility.

Becoming a Leader in Resource Cycling

Circular economy is, and will continue to be, a global trend. Every nation is now thinking about the ways that resources, raw materials, and wastes can be endlessly recycled and reused within business chains.

Looking forward, ECOVE will continue to put resource cycling into practice. It will improve resource cycling efficiency™, establish intelligent and data-driven operational systems, broaden its own patented technologies, follow market trends and seek best solutions, participate in national and regional agenda and policies, and collaborate with communities. Not only will ECOVE keep expanding its business areas in resource cycling, it will also contribute to global sustainable development, adhering to the core spirit of "Every Resource Counts" as well as the group's corporate culture: "Professionalism, Integrity, Teamwork, and Innovation." That way, the vision of becoming "the most reliable provider of industry-leading ‘resource cycling’ services" can be realized.