| Centre may make it mandatory for cement cos to burn such wastes. |
The Centre proposes to make it mandatory for cement makers to use hazardous waste that can burn such as plastic waste and tyre chips as alternative fuel in cement kilns.
Such a move would not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also avoid creation of landfills. Besides reducing the fuel costs for cement firms, it would also help avoid investments in expensive incinerators.
“We plan to make it (use of waste as alternative fuel) mandatory for cement companies,” said Mr S. P. Gautam, Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
However, he did not specify a time-line.
Companies such as ACC, Grasim Industries Ltd, Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd and Lafarge India Ltd have conducted various trials for co-processing or using hazardous waste as alternative fuel in kilns.
Wastes co-processed by these firms include plastic waste, sludge from petrochemical or oil refinery, waste oil, paint sludge, effluent treatment plant (ETP) sludge, and spent carbon.
“We want to make it more broad-based so that other cement companies also start using waste for co-processing,” Mr Gautam said.
In February, the CPCB had come out with guidelines on co-processing for cement industry.
“We plan to come out with such guidelines for thermal power sector in six months,” Mr Gautam said, adding sectors such as coke oven and steel were also on the radar of CPCB.
India produces about 6.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste including 0.41 million tonnes of wastes that can burn, Mr Gautam said. However, only 12 States have 27 hazardous treatment, storage and disposable facilities.
Major waste generating states include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
Co-processing could be a preferred mode of disposing hazardous waste when compared to expensive incinerators which cost Rs 10-30 crore each depending on the capacity, Mr Gautam said. The disposal cost of hazardous incinerable waste is estimated to be Rs 16,000 a tonne and co-processing could help the country avoid a cost of Rs 640 crore a year, he said.
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