Cement, Energy and Environment

a sustainable future requires implementation of the concepts of circular economy for all industries. In essence, circular economy aims at elimination of waste in the form of underutilized resources, products and assets in a product's life cycle. Incorporating circular economy in any process is not only limited to reducing the negative environmental impact but also extends to addressing the problem of resource scarcity, reducing the cost of production and creating various short- and long-term benefits. Circularity explores the avenues of innovating the existing technologies to come out with innovative solutions. A study by FICCI and Accenture Strategy indicates that approximately half-a-trillion- dollar worth of India's GDP value could be lost due to a mismatch in demand and supply by 2030 if a business- as-usual scenario is maintained. In this scenario, no improvements in resource productivity would be made and environmental footprint would be consistent with past trends. However, the GDP value which would have been eroded can be safeguarded and further unlocked through adoption of circular business models in India. (FICCI, Accenture Strategy, 2018). The cement industry is a frontrunner in embedding the principles of circular economy in its manufacturing process. However, several opportunities may be further explored to add more value to the cement production process. Incorporating the principles of circularity indicate that the industry should design out waste and pollution, keep resources and products in use, and regenerate natural systems. It further leads to increasing resource efficiency, reducing dependency on fossil fuels and raw materials, and meeting national targets such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), among others. Recognizing the importance of green manufacturing, the National Manufacturing Policy of India (2011) incentivizes utilization of environment-friendly technology in the manufacturing sector, thereby managing consumption of key resources like water and energy (TERI Counsil for Business Sustainability, Yes Bank Ltd., 2018). The Indian cement industry has garnered accolades for being the most proactive on matters concerning resource efficiency, energy and environment. With 23% less electricity and 12- 15% less thermal energy consumption compared to global average, Indian cement plants are actively implementing best practices of circular economy such as heat recovery, co-processing of waste, industrial symbiosis, cement decarbonation, and innovating low-carbon technologies. In 2017, CPCB released guidelines on co- processing of hazardous and Fig.1: Potential solutions for circular economy in the cement production process 8