Page 19 - CIJ Feb 2024 Digital Edition

Cover Story

What is the percentage How much can you save Moisture is to be removed, it
needs to be mixed with the fuel
of savings you can by replacing coal with and pulverized, homogenized and
look at while reusing waste in a kiln? Where is then fed to the kiln. There is a

or recycling as against the saving when it comes cost involved in making it suitable
for feed. The cement plants
buying a new product? to using a recycled however still pay the municipal
product? waste generators when delivery
K Ganesh: PET bottles are
recycled up to 90-95%. They Kaustubh Phadke: In terms of ought to be at zero cost.
are used for making fabric, yarn, net zero for the cement sector it is Plastic waste is easier to
t-shirts, shoes, and caps. New quite a challenge because CO2 is manage and feed in the kiln.
regulations from the Central released in its manufacture. The Cement kiln companies are
0
Pollution Control Board and temperature required is 1500 C paying plastic waste suppliers and
MoEFCC require us to use for which fuels like PET coke with the new EPR regulations,
recycled content with packaging and coal are used. Alternative there are credits generated which
obligations. PET is already 90- fuel used in India has 5-6 % they submit to the manufacturer
95% recycled and with obligation significantly lower emission. or the owner of PIBOs. The
reaches 100%. We would be the One of the goals is to increase cement plant plays the role of
first in the world to achieve that alternative fuel use to 25-30% both consumer and disposer
of plastic waste. Though there
figure. Some plastics like PVC by 2030. Globally, there are are variations in the quality of
do not have recycling properties. cement plants running at 90% municipal waste, the quality
Multi-layer plastics or soft AFR (Alternate Fuels and Raw generated from cement industries
plastics which are used in chips Material). The quality of waste is uniform.
packets and biscuit packaging given to cement plants in Europe,
or in the US is vastly different
cannot be recycled and are used from what we get in India. Only What needs to be
as plastic sheets. They go into the cities like Indore, Jaipur or segregated from MSW
cement kiln for firing or are used Vellore in TN segregate waste
in road construction. for the cement plant based on for it to have better
Sustainable plastic packaging is parameters like calorific value calorific value?
reused. Glass gets reused as itself. greater than 2500 kcal/kg, low Waste which is non-
If the volume of glass used is the chloride content, low moisture compostable and non-recyclable
same as plastic, there is a huge content and less heavy metal. can be taken by the cement plant.
quantity of silica extracted since Once the waste is received, What is required is less than 25%
glass is based on soil and sand. it needs to be pre-processed. moisture content and calorific

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