Beijing detains waste firm workers in fake air pollution data case
- Eight people held after real-time sulphur dioxide readings found to be manipulated
- Company reportedly at the centre of the accusations handled most of the capital’s Covid-19 medical waste
Police in Beijing detained eight people from the company after finding numerous changes to sulphur dioxide data in the records of the company’s automatic monitoring equipment, state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.
It is the first case of its kind in the Chinese capital, according to the report.
Xinhua did not name the company but online news site Jiemian said the firm was Beijing Ruentex Environment Technology Corp, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Ruentex Group.
Beijing Ruentex has handled waste disposal in a number of outbreaks, including Ebola and bird flu, according to the company’s website.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was the only waste management company in the capital to handle medical waste, treating 80 per cent of the capital’s output, Taiwanese financial newspaper Commercial Times reported in 2021.