Remarkable Youth: Venture Capital Record | Zheng Zelin: Turning Wastewater into Clean Water and Solid Waste into "Gold"

"Green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver; blue skies and beautiful days benefit today and tomorrow." Zheng Zelin not only agrees with this concept but also puts it into practice by founding Nanjing Linhou Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Linhou Environmental Protection"), turning wastewater into clean water and solid waste into "gold."

Betting everything on a house and going all out, achieving victory and gradually improving.

China is a major manufacturing country, and electroplating is a fundamental process in manufacturing, widely used in various fields such as machinery, electronics, automotive, aviation, and aerospace. It plays a role in decorating, protecting, and enhancing the functionality of various industrial products, enabling them to meet various practical needs. However, this industry also faces issues such as rough management, high energy consumption, and serious water pollution, which are contrary to green manufacturing.

With the increasing public awareness of environmental protection, Zheng Zelin saw business opportunities. At that time, Nanjing was encouraging entrepreneurship, and Zheng Zelin made a decisive move, founding Linhou Environmental Protection in 2014, which quickly developed into a high-tech enterprise specializing in the design, manufacturing, operation, and technical services of industrial wastewater treatment systems, serving clients in various industrial fields including electroplating/surface treatment, electronics/PCB, mining/metallurgy, metal processing, steel, and chemicals.

In the early stages of entrepreneurship, Linhou Environmental Protection faced two major difficulties: one was a shortage of funds, and the other was the difficulty in opening up business. Fortunately, the company was recognized as an excellent project for young college students in Nanjing during its startup phase and received investment from the Nanjing Innovation Investment Group for college student entrepreneurship.

"The Nanjing Innovation Investment Group provided us with the most valuable financial support during our most difficult times, which was like sending charcoal in the snow," Zheng Zelin said. "They also helped us with targeted guidance in market expansion, company management, and development direction, greatly assisting the company's growth."

After that, Lady Luck smiled upon Zheng Zelin again.

In 2016, the country was implementing the electroplating pollutant discharge standard Table 3, which significantly upgraded the traditional discharge standards. At that time, Ningbo was a pilot city, actively seeking to collaborate with companies that met the Table 3 standards and had wastewater treatment technology. In this context, Linhou Environmental Protection was recommended to a newly established electroplating company in Ningbo, successfully opening the Ningbo market and gradually establishing a foothold in the industry, accumulating a good reputation.

In the early stages of the project operation, Linhou Environmental Protection did not have much capital to invest, so it borrowed over 3 million from clients and even mortgaged its property to them, which allowed it to invest in the first case. Ultimately, it passed the acceptance inspection and became the only project in Ningbo at that time to continuously and stably meet the national electroplating pollutant discharge standard Table 3.

The successful operation of the first electroplating wastewater treatment project put Linhou Environmental Protection on the fast track to development. To date, Linhou Environmental Protection has expanded its business in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Gansu, and other regions.

Technological innovation "builds high walls," and meticulous management "accumulates grain."

After establishing a foothold, Zheng Zelin often thinks about how to build Linhou Environmental Protection's core competitiveness and make the company a leader in the industry.

First is technological innovation "builds high walls."

As the country's requirements for environmental protection become increasingly stringent, Zheng Zelin believes that the development direction of the electroplating wastewater treatment industry must achieve two points: stable compliance with discharge standards and resource recovery and utilization.

"In response to the new standards for electroplating wastewater issued by the state, traditional environmental protection companies simply reduce the heavy metal content in wastewater to meet national discharge standards through various methods. In contrast, we effectively transform wastewater into resources by organically combining new ion exchange resin technology with traditional biological treatment processes, which is currently the most advanced wastewater resource regeneration technology in the country," Zheng Zelin described. This method is Linhou Environmental Protection's independently developed new ion exchange resin technology, which can completely adsorb and separate heavy metals from wastewater during the treatment process. Through traditional environmental protection treatment processes, it can achieve zero discharge of electroplating wastewater. The heavy metals such as copper, nickel, and chromium adsorbed by the resin are refined, ultimately forming marketable products like copper plates and nickel plates. This method not only consolidates Linhou Environmental Protection's leading position in the electroplating industry but also aligns with the national trends of green development and circular economy.

Ion exchange resin technology is an emerging water treatment technology in China, with high-end resin technology monopolized by international giants. To overcome this technology, Zheng Zelin formed a high-quality technical team and established industry-university-research cooperation with universities and research institutions such as Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, and Jinchuan Group Nickel Cobalt Institute. In 2020, this technology was included in the "Jiangsu Province Water Pollution Prevention and Control Technology Guidance Directory," becoming a pioneering technology in the domestic heavy metal wastewater treatment industry. Zheng Zelin stated, "The pattern of international giants monopolizing the domestic market has been rewritten. We continuously invest in research and development, forming a patent pool for protection. Currently, the company holds 6 invention patents, 5 utility model patents, and 7 software copyrights."

Technological innovation also brings additional economic benefits to the enterprise. The heavy metals adsorbed by the resin are pure substances, which also provides the company with new directions for technological breakthroughs. In the future, the company will refine high-purity ultra-pure copper, ultra-pure nickel, and other high-end products through technological research and development to maximize profits.

Second is meticulous management "accumulates grain."

Successful enterprises cannot do without good management. Having worked in Japanese companies, Zheng Zelin places great importance on corporate management models, and the company's organizational mechanism has learned a lot from Japanese enterprises and his own practical exploration. Zheng Zelin has his own insights into company management: "Both enterprises and individuals are dynamically developing. In corporate management, we have always been actively learning and changing. In production management, we refer to the 7S standards of Japanese companies to achieve refined management of overall work quality. In research and development, sales, customer support, and other aspects, we have a complete process system, which makes our management work more efficient. In terms of selecting and employing people, we have established a sound employee promotion system, allowing employees to share in the growth benefits of the enterprise. The alignment of all employees' goals with those of the enterprise also makes the company's management more effective."

A sword's edge comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold.

Without accumulating small steps, one cannot reach a thousand miles; without accumulating small streams, one cannot form rivers and seas. Today, Linhou Environmental Protection, relying on its industry-leading wastewater treatment technology and outstanding innovation capabilities, has begun to emerge in the electroplating wastewater industry, successively reaching deep cooperation with large enterprises such as China Water Group, Jinchuan Group, and Meishan Steel. The enterprise has successively passed certifications such as "High-tech Enterprise," "Jiangsu Science and Technology Small and Medium-sized Enterprise," "Jiangsu Private Technology Enterprise," and "Specialized, Refined, and New Enterprise." Zheng Zelin has also personally received honors such as the "Nanjing City 2017 May Day Labor Award," the 2018 "Top Ten Technological Innovation Achievements" award, and the 2019 "Nanjing City Entrepreneurship Potential New Star."

Step by step to today, Zheng Zelin candidly admitted that he had indeed considered other paths, but after a brief hesitation and wandering, he still determined the direction he chose and pursued it unwaveringly. "To undertake difficult tasks, there must be gains. When we established the company in 2014, we had almost no income for a whole year, but we persevered, and last year we achieved revenue exceeding 50 million yuan, with tax payments reaching 5.32 million yuan in 2020," Zheng Zelin said proudly.

"Green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver. I hope this concept can be deeply rooted in everyone's heart, so that whether we are environmental protection practitioners or ordinary citizens, we will spontaneously pay attention to environmental issues." Zheng Zelin admitted that although the country has begun to pay increasing attention to environmental pollution, the overall environmental quality is still not optimistic. In the future, Nanjing Linhou Environmental Protection will adhere to the strategy of "technological innovation and talent-driven," continuously enhancing the core competitiveness of the enterprise, contributing to the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and building a beautiful China.