“I personally don’t know any other sleeve manufacturer who is doing this,” comments Robert Wu, Founder and Chairman of Oboya. The company is installing its own solar energy power plant to generate electricity, which they are hoping to start using at the end of December 2021. “Sustainability is already an important aspect for us concerning the materials we use, so we are excited to take it a huge step further and significantly reduce our energy consumption and contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.”
Thousands of square meters of solar panels
At the Oboya location in Qingdao, China, they are currently constructing solar power facilities at the Oboya Packaging Company’s buildings, where thousands of square meters of roof will be fully covered with solar panels. In total, this will encompass a total of 7000 square meters of solar panels. According to Wu, the project will be done in phases. “The first phase will generate 200 kilowatts by the end of December 2021, which would be about a third of our production needs. The next step will be to expand on this, as our eventual target is to cover 90% of our energy needs. It is a very reliable manner of generating electricity and there is lots of sunshine in Qindao, so we are definitely planning on expanding the project. Also, we are connecting to the State Grid, so that any excess energy can be sold to other users instead. In the future, we would also like to take this to our other productions, not just our sleeve production.”
The perfect timing
Wu explains that Oboya has already been using recycled and biodegradable materials for its products, but it now felt like the right time to take further steps and look at their energy consumption as well. “China is starting to reduce the usage of coal power, so that is something that triggered our decision making. In addition, at this month’s Glasgow Climate Summit, almost 200 nations signed an agreement to stop the use of coal power, which will impact energy supplies in the long term. Therefore, we see this solar project as a great investment for our company’s future.”
For more information:
Oboya Horticulture Industries Hong Kong Ltd
Robert Wu
robert.wu@oboya.cc
www.oboya.cc
www.horti.cn
Oboya Horticulture installs solar energy power plant