Cement—major ACC has embarked upon an ambitious project for substituting 5 per cent of its annual coal requirement of about five million tonnes over the next three years with waste generated by cities and industries.
The company, which saved Rs 47 crore, last year on fossil fuels, aims to save Rs 60 crore in 2011 by burning waste, primarily plastics, at its plants.
“We are currently working on disposal of city wastes. We are segregating the plastic wastes and then use it in our kiln. Plastic has higher calorific value, which is heat content, than coal,” said Mr K N Rao, ACC Director (Energy and Environment).
He was speaking after receiving an award for ACC’s adoption of environment-saving and energy efficiency measures at the 4th Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) here.
“We have replaced 2 per cent of our coal requirement by disposing and burning all types of wastes. Our target is to replace 5 per cent of our total coal requirement in the next three years,” Mr Rao added.
The company is currently implementing two pilot projects on management of waste for use as fuel at Kullu, in Himachal Pradesh, and Katni, in Madhya Pradesh.
“We will start another project at Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu... We are expecting to save Rs 60 crore this year, as against Rs 47 crore last year,” Mr Rao said.
Explaining the technology, he said the gas that is generated from burning plastic reacts with the lime content of the raw material and creates a byproduct, which is part of an additive used in the production of cement.
“We are working on disposing industrial wastes in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. We use all wastes as fuels,” he added.