News and Information

With the implementation of green manufacturing policies, fastener surface‑treatment processes are experiencing a wave of environmentally friendly upgrades.

Release date:

2026-08-14

Author:

Litian Hardware

Domestic environmental regulatory standards continue to tighten, with increasingly stringent requirements for pollutant emissions in core fastener manufacturing processes such as electroplating and heat treatment. The transformation of traditional, high‑pollution electroplating technologies is accelerating, while green surface‑treatment solutions—including zinc–nickel alloy plating, cyanide‑free plating, and mechanical zinc coating—are gaining rapid adoption, profoundly reshaping the production landscape of the screw, nut, and bolt industry. Fastener surface treatment directly determines corrosion‑resistance performance; salt‑spray test duration, coating thickness, and adhesion are key evaluation criteria for downstream buyers. Environmental upgrades must not merely reduce pollution; they must also ensure that product performance remains uncompromised.
In the past, numerous small and medium-sized processing plants relied on conventional zinc‑plating processes, which posed significant challenges such as difficult wastewater treatment and a high risk of hydrogen embrittlement. As environmental‑protection regulations tightened, small surface‑treatment workshops lacking compliant wastewater‑treatment capabilities were steadily phased out. Consequently, many fastener manufacturers opted either to locate in compliant, centralized electroplating parks or to upgrade their own production lines to meet environmental standards. During this process of technological advancement, many companies encountered technical hurdles: under the same coating thickness, the salt‑spray resistance of new eco‑friendly platings lagged behind that of traditional processes, necessitating repeated fine-tuning of plating parameters and the integration of post‑plating baking and hydrogen‑removal procedures to prevent delayed fracture in high‑strength bolts.
Downstream industries are simultaneously tightening their procurement requirements for green products. In sectors such as shipbuilding, new energy, and export‑oriented trade, fasteners are explicitly mandated to use environmentally friendly coatings, while the market access of certain high‑pollution‑intensity processes is being restricted. On the export front, the European Union and numerous Southeast Asian countries have introduced chemical‑management regulations that set stringent limits on hazardous substance content in fastener coatings; products failing to meet these standards cannot clear customs. Under this dual pressure, environmental upgrades have shifted from being an optional investment to an essential threshold for corporate survival.
In the long term, green manufacturing is both a regulatory requirement and a key enabler for accessing high-end markets. As manufacturers upgrade their production lines, they simultaneously refine hydrogen‑removal treatments and coating‑inspection procedures, leveraging salt‑spray testing equipment to continuously validate corrosion‑resistance performance, thereby balancing environmental‑impact metrics with product reliability. In the future, low‑energy heat treatment and closed-loop water‑recycling electroplating processes will become increasingly widespread; production capacity that cannot meet green‑process standards will gradually be phased out, driving the fastener industry as a whole toward a low‑carbon, sustainable transformation.

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