TCL and O'Meet Form Joint Venture to Pursue Resource and Environmental Protection

TCL and O'Meet Form Joint Venture to Pursue Resource and Environmental Protection

November 06th,2008

On October 15th, the Guangdong Development Summit was held in Huizhou. The summit was entitled, Resources Renewable and Environmental Protection. Hundreds of professionals and government officials attended the event, during which TCL Corporation ("TCL") and Guangdong O Meet Group ("O'Meet"), a specialist in environmental protection, announced their joint venture ("JV") geared toward pursuing resource and environmental protection.

The two parties signed an agreement to form a JV Guangdong O Meet Environmental Protection Investment Co., Ltd. which symbolizes the commencement of a drive of towards circular economic development by China s home appliances companies, with special focus on the industrialization of environmental protection.

O'Meet is widely renowned for its advanced technology in the treatment of home appliances waste, while TCL enjoys remarkable strength in retail sales of home appliances. The JV's primary purpose is the pursuit of pollution-free recycling as well as treatment and utilization of waste home electronic products.

O'Meet and TCL believe they can expedite the development of environmentally friendly appliances by leveraging TCL s advanced modern corporate management system and powerful capital operation capacity, and O Meet s extensive experience in environmental protection and mature dismantling and recovery technologies.

The planned cooperation between the two companies will vastly contribute to the improvement of environmental sustainability and maxima resource utilization. Additionally, the JV will promote social responsibility and create economic benefits, with strong technical support provided by U.S.-based DuPont.

With the above-mentioned expertise, experience and support in-hand, the two parties will shape their JV into a comprehensive environmental protection group by synergizing their respective strengths and advantages.

In China, the waste home appliances treatment process is in dire need of standardization. O Meet's unique technology allows for treating waste home electronic products so as to achieve zero pollution discharge through a low-cost operational process. As pointed out by analysts, the JV initiative will help change the current state of environment protection and facilitate breakthroughs in the areas of recovery and utilization of waste generated by home electronic products.

Waste home appliances have enormous potential in both environmental pollution and recycling in particular, the latter, through which their intrinsic value can be great if the correct treatment methods are in place. stated an attendee who is an expert in environmental protection industry, China has hit a scrap home appliances fastigium, as the market value reaches into the tens of billions of Yuan.

I think Chinese enterprises can effectively solve the problem of waste home appliances pollution by establishing recycling and environmental protection companies according to the country s unique conditions. The sector is very promising.

Lin Chuntao, Chairman of the Board of O Meet, believes the TCL-O Meet alliance to be the very first innovative example of cooperation between a consumer electronics company and a professional environmental protection company. Through the complementary advantages of both parties, substantial development can be achieved.

Li Dongsheng, Chairman of the Board of TCL Corporation, noted that the recycling and reutilization of waste from home appliances will help to ease domestic resource shortages, reduce environmental pollution, improve resource recycling and utilization, lower production costs, and enhance the overall competitiveness of Chinese home appliances companies.

Thus, companies can achieve harmonious, green, circular, and sustainable development. Companies will assume greater social responsibility and adhere to sustainable development plans in response to the green barriers of developed countries, by leveraging cooperation projects.

The EU s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations (WEEE) require home appliances manufacturers in other countries to pay 3% to 5% of their product prices for exports to European countries. This percentage includes the recycling and treatment processes for electronic waste and therefore poses a great challenge to Chinese enterprises.

Regardless of this substantial tariff, TCL and O'Meet initiated their joint efforts toward the recovery and treatment of waste from home appliances, indicating that consumer electronic enterprises and specialized resources and environmental protection enterprises share a common understanding in the era of the circular economy.

DuPont will provide comprehensive technical support for the project. As the inventor of Freon and the new-generation Suva refrigerant, DuPont provides additional and improved technical solutions to treat waste from home appliances, and strives for a project free of environmental pollution risks. DuPont will deploy its new, environmentally friendly refrigerant in the Chinese market and advance the philosophy of green products and a circular economy to consumers, helping to boost development of the environmental protection industry in China.

According to the Circular Economy Promotion Law of the People s Republic of China, which will be implemented as of January 1, 2009, a circular economy is consistent with the principle of Consumption Reduction, Reuse and Recycling of Resources through the adoption of technical and administrative measures to improve resource utilization efficiency, reduce waste discharge, realize sustained economic growth with minimum resource consumption and environmental costs, and harmonize the socio-economic and natural ecological systems.

The development of a circular economy is an important vehicle for practicing the scientific development theory and achieving a fundamental shift in the path of economic growth. Established under such circumstances, the TCL-O Meet JV has become a symbol of both development in the recycling resource sector in China and the enormous prospects it holds for the future.