Cement, Energy and Environment

and maintenance that cover safety of neighbours, workers and installations; c) Systematically review operation and maintenance procedures. Environmentally sound management Environmentally sound management (ESM) is a policy concept that more broadly applies to hazardous wastes within the Basel and Stockholm Convention. In its article 2, paragraph 8, the Basel Convention (1989; 2006) defines ESM of hazardous wastes or other wastes as "taking all practicable steps to ensure that hazardous wastes or other wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against adverse effects which may result from such wastes." To comply with the ESM criteria, a number of legal, institutional and technical conditions must be met, in particular that: a) A regulatory and enforcement infrastructure ensures compliance with applicable regulations; b) The facility should be authorized and have an adequate standard of technology and pollution control to deal with hazardous wastes; c) The facility should have an applicable environmental management system (EMS) in place; d) The facility should take sufficient measures to safeguard occupational and environmental health and safety; e) The facility should have an adequate monitoring, recording and reporting programme; f) People involved in the management of hazardous waste are capable and adequately trained in their capacity. g) That the facility should have an adequate emergency plan; and h) The effects of the activities needs to be monitored and appropriate action should be taken in cases where monitoring gives indications that the management of hazardous wastes has resulted in unacceptable releases. Initial waste and impact evaluation The aim of the initial acceptance procedures is to set the outer boundaries and limits for wastes, which can be accepted by a particular kiln, and the conditions and requirements for their preparation and delivery specification. Any waste fed to a cement kiln should: a) Be homogenous; b) Have stable heat and moisture content; c) Have stable chemical and physical composition; d) Have a pre-specified size distribution. In real-life, a cement plant operator usually receives wastes from various producers with various waste characteristics and to fulfil the requirements mentioned above wastes must be pre– processed prior to delivering to the cement plant. The cement plant operator must however specify their requirements for waste acceptance with the waste owner and the pre-processing facility prior to any deliverables. Assessment of possible impacts When the cement plant operator and the pre-processing facility have received information about the waste, he must: a) Assess the potential impact of transporting unloading, storing, and the using the material on the health and safety of employees, contractors and the community. Ensure that equipment or management practices required to address these impacts are in place; b) Assess what personal protective equipment will be required for employees to safely handle the waste on site: c) Assess the compatibility of wastes; reactive or non– compatible wastes must not be mixed.; d) Assess the effect the waste may have on the process operation. Chlorine, flurorine, sulphur, and alkali content in wastes may build up in the kiln system, leading to accumulation clogging, and unstable operation; excess in chlorine or alkali may produce cement kiln dust or bypass dust (and may require installation of a bypass) which must be removed, recycled or disposed or responsibly. The heat value is the key parameter for the energy provided to the process. Wastes with high water content may reduce the productivity and efficiency of the kiln system and the ash content affects the chemical composition of the cement and may require an adjustment of the composition of the raw materials mix; 79