A project to control pollution and help restore the environment, using technology for the spontaneous combustion of coal gangue -- championed by a company in Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province -- recently won plaudits at the national level.

The project -- jointly completed by Huayang New Materials Technology Group based in Yangquan city and China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) -- recently won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Awards.

It is the first time the group had won this honor in the environmental protection field.

In recent years, the company has implemented various national environmental protection policies, improved its environmental management system and introduced various advanced eco-treatment technologies, while working with eco-friendly industries. 

The group has invested more than 3 billion yuan ($454 million) in treating the gangue left from coal mining. It took the lead in completing the combustion of gangue, ecological restoration and treatment and the efficient disposal of gangue. 

The company has established a set of coal gangue discharge and disposal standards and treatment technologies, and ecological restoration technologies and standards that have been used as the basis for Shanxi's provincial standards for coal gangue disposal.

Moving forwards, the group will continue with its green development, further explore the management of gangue discharges and disposals and aim to recycle it -- expanding methods of disposal and utilization to create more ecological and social benefits.