In an example of how Gujarat has emerged as a front runner in taking green measures to ensure cleaner environment, the State has achieved fresh heights in utilisation of hazardous waste as resource by the cement industry.

As per the latest data from the state regulator, the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), utilisation of hazardous waste as alternative fuel and raw material (AFR) in cement kilns has witnessed mammoth jump of 35 times since 2009-10 from 15,693 tonnes per annum (TPA) to 5,43,569 TPA in 2013-14.

Interestingly, during the past one year alone, the quantum of waste utilised by cement plants jumped 185 per cent from 1,90,707 TPA in 2012-13.

This follows GPCB’s measures to strike a balance between disposal of toxic hazardous wastes and environment protection and economic interest. Safe disposal of toxic hazardous waste posed a major challenge before the state pollution regulator, which took up disposal of toxic waste through cement kilns under controlled conditions.

As per the inventory data submitted to CPCB in 2011, Gujarat generated 1,08,622 MTPA of incinerable (destroy by burning), 11,07,130 MTPA of land-fillable and 577,037 MTPA of recyclable hazardous wastes. These included Plastic waste, spent carbon, TDI Tar, mixed waste liquid, pharmaceutical waste, tyre chips, agricultural waste, solid waste, chemical gypsum, iron sludge, copper slag, fly ash among others.

The board encouraged association of major industrial clusters and cement plants to provide waste collection centers and pre-processing facilities for hazardous waste for co-processing. Co-processing refers to the use of waste materials in industrial processes or the substitution of primary fuel and raw material by waste.

“It is a recovery of energy and material from waste. The challenging task was to convince the top management of cement plants,” Hardik Shah, member secretary, GPCB, told Business Line . GPCB facilitated cement makers with access to its data on waste generated in the State via Extended Green Node (XGN) software, which ensured supply of suitable wastes.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines (2010) on co-processing in the cement industry, co-processing creates a win-win situation for all. Co-processing of hazardous waste in cement production has been recognised as an environmentally sound disposal method in the context of the Basel Convention too.

“This involves some additional investment but in the long run it repays as there are savings on fuel costs. And there is a satisfaction for participating in the social cause,” said a source from Ambuja Cement. The company has invested Rs 100 crore to set up a pre-processing facility of solid/semi solid waste at its Ambujanagar plant in Junagadh district.

Similarly, Sanghi Industries Ltd is in the trial phase for using hazardous waste. “From a legal standpoint, we need to get clearance from GPCB and the CPCB for co-processing any new waste material in our plant. We have submitted the results of the trials conducted and are awaiting clearance from them,” said Alok Sanghi, Director, Sanghi. It has been doing trials for last 1.5 years. Other major players include UltraTech and Lafarge India among others.

Other than cement, steel/iron industry as well as power sector are among the potential sectors for co-processing projects.

“The use of alternative fuel in Indian cement industries has been limited. The thermal substitution rate (TSR) in cement industry is less than 1 per cent in India as against 10 per cent in Japan and 40 per cent in European nations. GPCB has set a target of three years to achieve TSR of 10 per cent by using AFR,” said Shah.

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