A worker at VICEM Ha Tien Cement Joint Stock Company in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang (Photo: VNA)Vietnam is a major cement producer with a capacity of more than 100 million tonnesof cement per year, said Associate Professor Luong Duc Long, deputy presidentof Vietnam National Cement Association.
He spoke at a workshop on the co-processing of alternative fuels and rawmaterials in the Vietnamese cement industry, held by the Norwegian Embassy on September29 in Hanoi. The workshop is part of the Ocean Plastic Turned into anOpportunity in Circular Economy (OPTOCE) Project funded by the NorwegianGovernment.
Long said fuel consumption for cement production in the country is now high.
The country now has 82 clinker kilns in operation, which together each yearconsume over 10 million tonnes of anthracite coal, he said.
The current use rate of alternative fuels in the whole cement industry remainslow, although the Government of Vietnam has the policy to increase the rate by15% by 2030 and 30% after that, he said.
Long also said under the Basel Convention, co-processing is an activity “thatcan lead to resource recovery and resultant reduction in the use ofconventional fuels and raw materials through substitution” of the followingcategories R1 (“use as a fuel or other means to generate energy”) and R5(“Recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materials”).
He said there are many waste treatment methods as raw materials and alternativefuels.
The method of waste co-processing in the cement industry is a solution withmany advantages to thoroughly treat all types of waste, including household wasteand industrial waste, especially hazardous waste, thanks to a system ofincinerators, he said.
Data from the Vietnam Environment Administration shows that Vietnam has issuedlicenses for co-processing wastes for four cement manufacturers of Holcim HonChong Cement Factory; Thanh Cong Group Joint Stock Company; Nghi Son CementCompany; and VICEM Ha Tien Cement Joint Stock Company.
Advantages, disadvantages
According to Long, technological advantages in treating waste using cementproduction include high-temperature stability, long residence time, highalkaline reactants, 24-hour daily emission monitoring system, large capacity,no ash and no disposal.
Besides, there is also economical and environmental efficiency whenco-processing waste is applied in the cement industry. For example, iteliminates dioxin, reducing CO2 emissions by utilising waste.
In terms of economic benefit, he said that co-processing waste will help reducewaste storage and handling costs, reduce waste burial and disposal space, takeadvantage of heat energy, and reduce coal consumption.
However, he said the biggest barriers to using waste for cement productionconsist of ensuring stable waste collection and supply to cement manufacturersand co-processing technology in clinker incinerators.
Do Xuan Thinh, technical expert of Vietnam National Cement Corporation (VICEM),also pointed out some disadvantages that the cement industry has to face whenit applies co-processing waste currently.
He said there is no stipulation relevant to granting costs for waste treatmentin the cement production process and no supporting mechanisms and policies forentities participating in handling and treating ash, slag, synthetic gypsum,wastes and sludge.
In addition, waste is not sorted out, collected and pre-processed byspecialised entities to meet requirements for supplying and co-processingcement kilns. This results in unstable quality and low supply capacity.
Recommendations
Thịnh suggested that the Government, the Ministry of Construction and relevantauthorities review for amendments and supplements of some stipulationsconcerning the waste treatment and co-processing in cement production to createmore favourable conditions for cement manufacturers participating inco-processing activities in the coming time.
It is necessary to amend Decree No. 40/2019/ND-CP to include cement productionfacilities in the provincial environmental protection and construction plans sothat the cement manufacturers could smoothly participate in waste co-processingactivities.
Because the decree currently regulates that the location of industrial ordinarysolid waste co-processing facilities has to belong to the provincialenvironmental protection and construction plans. While the location of cementmanufacturers now does not belong to the plans.
He said that it is advised to arrange preferential capital sources forinvestment in equipment and machinery for the waste treatment process andsupport transportation costs for wastes that have been stored at landfills incities and localities.
It needs to supplement regulations and instructions on labelling green andenvironmentally friendly for the products of cement manufacturers that usewaste as alternative materials, he said.
Do Tien Doan from the Department of Waste Management under the VietnamEnvironmental Administration said the ministry plans to introduce general wasteco-treatment standards, including general waste and plastic waste and issuespecific regulations for the fume treatment system in cement kilns.
He said that the ministry would also regulate the maximum ratio of waste usedin the co-processing progress compared to the input capacity or raw materialsand fuel.
More specific requirements about quality control of input waste and the processof receiving, storing, sorting, mixing and pre-treating before co-processingwill be given, he said.
Speaking at the workshop, Norwegian DHOM Mette Møglestue said through the OceanPlastic Turned into an Opportunity in Circular Economy (OPTOCE) project thathas been implemented in five Asian countries, including Vietnam, Norway hopesto help Vietnam’s cement industry to improve its capacity to treatnon-recyclable plastic wastes, and to contribute to implementing Vietnam’snet-zero target commitment by 2050.
Chief Scientist Dr Kåre Helge Karstensen from the Norwegian Foundation forScientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), who has been heading the OPTOCEProject, said co-processing in cement kilns could improve the management ofnon-recyclable plastic waste in Vietnam.
He said that it reduces coal consumption in the cement industry and lowers theneed for building expensive WtE (Wastes to Energy) incinerators.
More importantly, the cement industry at large can play a more important rolein reducing Greenhouse gas emissions and preventing plastic wastes from endingup in the oceans,” he said.
The OPTOCE project is part of the Norwegian Development Programme to CombatMarine Litter and Microplastics. The programme intends to contribute toSustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.1, which states that the world shouldprevent and significantly reduce marine pollution by 2025.
A regional project called OPTOCE investigates how the involvement of the CementIndustry can increase the treatment capacity for Non- Recyclable Plastic Wastesin five Asian countries, including Vietnam, thereby contributing to reducingthe release of plastics into the sea./.
VNA
