Cement, Energy and Environment

Meetings and active discussion among members of the forum resulted into five White papers that covered the key policy and regulators issues impeding the rapid uptake of alternate fuels and identified amendments. These White Papers were developed based on the inputs of the member state pollution control boards, technical experts, industry representatives and reference from international best practices, journals and research documents. The five White papers prepared by the Forum broadly covered the following themes: 1. White paper I on amendment of hazardous waste rule 2008 under EP Act 1986 to include co-processing as a disposal alternative 2. White paper II on Emission standard for co– processing of hazardous waste in cement kilns, Emission monitoring methodology etc. 3. White paper Ill on guidelines for transportation and storage of hazardous waste for co– processing 4. White paper IV on guidelines for commissioning of preprocessing plant for co– processing 5. White paper V on increasing percentage utilization of refused derived fuel and fly ash generated from coal based power station in cement plants It is encouraging that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has acknowledged this initiative and has decided to take it up at a bigger scale by creating a National Task Force on Co– processing. To promote Co-processing at large scale in the State, GPCB has also drawn target to achieve co-processing of Hazardous waste in cement ki ln to at least 10% TFR by AFR in next 03 years. To achieve target, Association of major industrial clusters & cement plants are being encouraged to provide Waste exchange Banks I Collection Centers and pre-processing facilities for hazardous waste. Municipal authorities are being encouraged for segregation facilities of MSW for co-processing for preparation of RDF. Officials are following with experts to identify new sectors and it's waste generators to link up with cement industries. Sector wise and region wise meetings are on way to use hazardous waste for Co Processing . It is sure that with the active support of cement plants which are the main players, these initiatives of the Board will gather the necessary momentum and lead to mainstreaming the use of alternate fuels and raw materials for cement manufacture leading a win- win situation. Concl usion : Fossil fuels and raw materials have been successfully substituted by different types of wastes in cement kilns in Europe, Japan, United States, Canada and Australia since the 1970s.Co– processing provides a cost effective environmentally sound resource recovery option and does not hamper waste reduction efforts. Co– processing is also in line with relevant international environmental agreements, namely the Basel and Stockholm Conventions. There is a potential to reach 10% thermal substitution in India in the next few years through use of alternative fuels in cement plants and given the supportive environment, the cement plant can achieve this objective.. Setting of national level goal on co-processing will recognize co-processing as a recovery option to be preferred over land filling and incineration. In order to achieve this goal, various policy interventions, undertaking of capacity building and awareness generation programs towards acceptance of co-processing are required both at Central and State level. Appropriate incentives can also be considered to boost the co-processing in cement plants. It is extremely important and urgent to decide on waste hierarchy for the streams/ wastes. To boost this further, the State Pollution Control Boards across the country may update waste inventory and disseminate the information. The proactive actions by Municipal authorities with reference to the collection, segregation, pre– treatment/ pre-processing of fresh municipal solid wastes (MSW) could enhance the Co-processing of MSW reducing the burden on the sanitary landfi ll sites for which there is a big gap between need and availability. Sou rce: 1. Data and information from Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gandhinagar 2. Central Pollution Control Board (2010) Guidelines on Co-processing in Cement/ Power/Steel Industry. 3. The Basel Convention Technical Guidelines on Incineration on Land', SBC, 1995 4. Webpage: http://www.ibef.org/download/cement-august- 2013.pdf 5. Co-Processing Of Alternative Fuels And Raw Materials In The European Cement by CEMBEREAU 10 I • . ~ •