The company has presented plans to address these impacts to ensure that the proposed Project will upon implementation of the specific agreed measures, comply with the environmental and social requirements - the host country laws and regulations and the World Bank/IFC environment and social policies and the environmental, health and safety guidelines. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the sponsor/project is summarized in the paragraphs that follow.
Launch Tech’s expansion plans are implemented in the following cities:
- in Shenzhen, where all the current production units related to auto diagnostic systems and wheel services will be consolidated in a new building complex located in the “Shenzhen Longgang Ban Xue Gang High-tech Park” to the North East of Shenzhen city, and
- in Shanghai, where Launch Tech’s current lift manufacturing plant will expand its capacity within its current production site in the “Shanghai International Automobile City Spare Parts Assembly Industrial Zone”, near the Shanghai Volkswagen factory.
- Shenzhen specific descriptions:
The new building complex in Shenzhen is located on a greenfield site in the “Shenzhen Longgang Ban Xue Gang High-tech Park” in Bantian, Long Gang District approximately 15 kilometers to the North East from the center of Shenzhen.
The site is highly suitable for the type of operation carried out by Launch Tech, as it has a well developed infrastructure and easy access to the highway system allowing for transport of both the parts needed for the production and export of the final products. Further the Bantian area has during the last 3 years been fully developed as a high tech industry area with a significant concentration of new industries.
The 4.7 hectare large site now allocated for the building complex was originally prepared for a company planning to build a cutlery manufacturing plant. This company did however cease operation before it managed to build the planned facilities. Thereafter the land lay unused for more than 2 years before Launch Tech applied for a land lease agreement. Launch Tech’s application has been subject to public disclosure for 30 days before the lease agreement could be finished.
To ensure the land for the building complex does not carry any liabilities relating to the previous land conversion and land lease agreement(s) a meeting with the Long Gang District Technology & Information Commission (LGDTIC) was carried out. According to LGDTIC the land is free of past obligations and was some years ago part of a larger conversion of low density farming land into high tech industrial land. Before the conversion a package of financial compensation and housing complex development was given to the original farmers, together with a conversion of their status from peasants to city dwellers. The majority of the former farmers, who are now a small minority of the 50,000+ employee city that has developed, have stayed in the city and have received help in obtaining city benefits, jobs, and full integration.
Launch Tech’s operations are based on:
- a substantial R&D department developing product upgrades and future products,
- outsourcing of basic component productions like printed circuit boards, motors, plastic components, etc, and
- internal preparation of basic components, assembling, final testing and packing for shipping.
The outsourcing of basic component production is done to major specialist companies in the respective areas. By using the Launch Tech production principles the internal production is very clean and only carry few environmental issues.
Launch Tech is served by public utilities for electricity and water, and as a result of the production principles there are no significant air emissions or wastewater. The wastewater from the building complex will be limited to domestic sewage and Launch Tech will construct a sewage treatment plant on site. The sewage treatment plant is being designed to meet a discharge water quality of 30 mg BOD/liter, 120 mg COD/liter, and 30 mg SS/liter. All these parameters are significant below the World Bank guidelines (50, 250, and 50 respectively). Domestic solid waste will be handled by local waste collectors, while steel cuttings will be collected for recycling.
- Shanghai specific descriptions:
The Launch Tech lift manufacturing facility in Shanghai is located on 6 hectare within the “Shanghai International Automobile City Spare Parts Assembly Industrial Zone” in Anting Town near Shanghai. The industrial zone is part of a 2001 plan for expanding the automotive industrial sector located to the west of Shanghai to cover 1600 hectare in total, including both the existing and future car manufacturing plants and support industries like Launch Tech. When the land for the “Shanghai International Automobile City Spare Parts Assembly Industrial Zone” was converted from agricultural to industrial use the farmers were compensated according to the local Shanghai legislation, and at the same time all the new industries were given incentives to train and employ former farmers. Launch Tech’s lift factory currently employs approximately 25 of the former farm workers. The new lift production line included in the proposed Project will not require any new land take, and thus no new resettlement will result from the Project.
Compared to the Shenzhen operation the Shanghai production is less dependent on outsourcing and includes heavy operations like steel bending, cutting/welding, painting operations etc. No significant air emissions or waste waters are created, and the emissions from the painting operations are collected and controlled before release.
All utilities are provided from the industrial park authorities, and they are also receiving and treating the wastewater (mainly domestic sewage) discharged from the Launch Tech facility.
- General descriptions:
All the Launch Tech operations (Shenzhen and Shanghai) are carried out in open, non congested, facilities with all normal safety precautions included and no apparent unsafe work places. As a result Launch Tech has not had any accidents reportable according to Chinese standards during the last three years of operation (only three years of operation was reviewed). Minor accidents are not reported through this system and it is not possible to know if there have been minor mishaps during the same period. It has therefore been agreed with Launch Tech that they will start internal safety reporting routines comparable to ILO standards as part of the project implementation. By initiating these reporting routines Launch Tech will be able to compare its performance with other general manufacturing facilities world wide, and keep a continuous improvement program.
During its relative short lifetime Launch Tech had a tremendous expansion. The number of employees is now around 1,700 after a product adjustment to concentrate on core areas was carried out in early 2005. It is expected that the production facility expansions in both Shenzhen and Shanghai could result in the need for a total of 250 new production workers once the full capacity is utilized. New workers are hired after an initial three months training period. After the end of the training period, and confirmation in the job, a worker will be eligible for compensation in case of retrenchment. Launch Tech considers itself a responsible employer, and do not use “temporary worker” contracts for easy work force adjustments.
A dormitory capable of housing all workers in need of local accommodation is included at the plant in Shanghai, and the new consolidated facility in Shenzhen will have similar accommodation capabilities. It is Launch Tech’s experience that approximately half of the workforce will use these accommodation benefits.
