Cement, Energy and Environment

Cement kiln co-processing facilitates zero waste future having no concern or liability of the generated waste. While disposing wastes, cement kiln recovers the energy and recycle raw material in it, thereby reducing the use of traditional renewable fuels and raw materials. The global scenario Some of the energy-intensive industries when became unviable due to very high cost of energy have been able to transform themselves into viable industries by co-processing waste as an alternate fuel. Tracking the history of AFR usage Axel Pieters, Head, Geocycle India, says, ·About 25 years ago, Geocycle Belgium initiated the use of waste as alternative fuel. This plant turned from a low profit to a high profit plant. Over a period, investments of the order of $30 million were made to develop state-of-the-art facilities to move to a significant TSR percentage in this plant.· According to Pieters 80 TSR is considered to be a remarkable achievement. In some developed countries, where the waste markets are mature and legislation and enforcement are in place, these numbers can be achieved. Here, the society at large is ready to invest in a clean environment. Legislation · the enabler What kind of legislation is there in developed countries for the industry to make long term investments to reach very high levels of TSR like 60-80 per cent? Pieters sheds some light. Countries like Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Norway have already reached the figures of 60-90 per cent of TSR in many cases. A part of Eastern European countries, which moved to European Union later on, are raising their investments now. European Union has a policy to reduce 40 per cent landfill area by 2020 as compared to what it was in 1998, otherwise these countries will get penalties. Therefore, there is a mandatory drive to implement the landfill directive. There is a big strive in Eastern Europe to raise TSR levels. Says Shashank Jain, Programme Manager (Industry), Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, ·cement kilns, in-fact, in the developed countries are seen as an effective option for disposing industrial and urban waste. Enabling policy and regulatory environment has helped these countries manage the waste as a resource. Indian scenario According to Jain TSR in Indian cement industry varies in great range. Few leading plants have achieved high figures in the range 15-20 per cent but most operate below three per cent of substitution. Jain is however optimistic. He says, 'AFR usage in cement industry is rising slowly but steadily since last few years. Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) have also become more concerned and acting proactively in terms of speeding up the clearance processes. We are very positive on this and expect TSR to be above five per cent by 2020.' Policy framework, a must What is the present policy framework in India for utilisation of waste and what amendments are needed? According to Pieters high values of TSR indicate that the industry has made investments because there is a conducive policy framework which infuses investments. Plans have to be made in feeding installations and preprocessing installations which are to the tune of $10 million. If one plans to use RDF derived out of municipal solid waste that contains 0.8 per cent of chlorine gas, one has to implement the ch lorine by-pass system beyond a certain TSR level. A chlorine by– pass system typically costs about $8 million. In India, the installation of a chlorine by-pass is blocked due to legal limitations. · 'At Geocycle India, we have made investments for implementing co-processing solution for the wastes and expect a reasonable return on investment for the same. However, in the Indian set up, the legislation is politically influenced. It is blocking the co-processing of waste by favouring dumping and land filling. It thus becomes difficult for the cement industry to compete. For the environmental protection of the country as such, the policy framework is lagging behind compared to the other countries ,· avers Pieters . Ulhas Parlikar, Deputy Head, External Affairs, R&D, Geocycle India explains it further. According to him most countri es are adopting environment-friendly technologies for waste management and co-processing technology has been recognised as one of the preferred technologies in their policy framework. Different kinds of wastes are diverted in these countries to cement kilns for co-processing because co– processing , being a recovery process, is higher in waste management hierarchy over landfill or incineration. In India, co-processing technology