Displaying items by tag: Government

India: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has arranged a deal with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palik (BBMP), an administrative city council body, to remove excess refuse derived fuel (RDF) in Bangalore. The agreement has arranged to transport 1.3Mt of RDF that has accumulated at six recycling plants in the city for a cost of just under US$0.5m, according to the Hindu newspaper.

High transport costs to move the PDF to cement plants in the north of Karnataka despite giving the RDF to the plants for free have been blamed for the excess of RDF in Bangalore in the south of the state. As an interim measure BBMP officials have asked cement plants to use Corporate Social Responsibility funds to cover the costs of transporting the RDF while it arranges policy on the matter. The government body may seek to ask the state government to subsidise transport costs for the RDF.

Egypt: Khaled Fahmy, the Minister of Environment, has said that government ministers have approved a plan submitted by the Ministry of Environment that seeks to encourage the increase in waste used as energy in cement plants to 15% by 2030. He said that the cabinet adopted the plan, adding that discussions are underway with heads of plants to discuss problems they face in using waste as fuel, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has asked operators in the cement industry to start studying their energy consumption and to start suggesting ways they can increase their rate of co-processing of alternative fuels.

The plan hopes to utilise nearly 22Mt of solid waste and 30Mt of agricultural residues to produce the refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy are also preparing legislation to encourage investors to start waste-to-energy businesses.

"The real problems facing investors in the waste recycling business is the lack of commitment by cleaning companies to provide the required quantities of waste to be recycled and used as an alternative fuel," said Fahmy. The ministry is also trying to improve the performance of waste management vehicles with new technology.

Ireland: Limerick council’s economic committee has agreed to ask Irish Cement that it conduct a full public consultation over its plans to co-process alternative fuels, including tyres, at its cement plant. Local residents have submitted objections to the Environmental Protection Agency over the proposals, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. However, Irish Cement has insisted its Euro10m plan for the site will have minimal environmental impact and will secure jobs at the site.

Belarus: The Council of Ministers of Belarus has approved the creation of a plan for the production of alternative fuels from municipal solid waste (MSW) and its use in the country. The aim is to expand the scope of use of municipal solid waste and its conversion into refuse derived fuel (RDF) including usage at cement plants.

The project aims to replace imported coal and natural gas with RDF levels of up to 330,000t for use by cement kilns. This will require around 1.1Mt of MSW or 26% of the country’s supply. In order to do this it has been recommended that new MSW sorting facilities should be set up and the existing ones should be retrofitted to produce raw materials for RDF.

The works will be implemented in two phases. Under the first phase (2016 - 2017), two facilities for the production of RDF will be set up in Krichev to supply Krichevcementnoshifer and Belarusian Cement Plant and one in Krasnoselsk for the Krasnoselskstroymaterialy company. In addition the fuel supply systems will need to be upgraded at the cement plants, production of raw material for RDF will be organised at the existing waste treatment plants in Brest, Mogilev, Gomel, Baranovichi and a waste sorting plant that is under construction in Grodno.

The cost of the first phase is estimated at Euro227m. Under the second phase (2017 - 2020), the output of raw materials for the production of RDF will be increased. In particular, inter-regional sorting plants should be built in Bobruisk, Vawkavysk, Zhlobin, Krichev, Lida, recycling plants should be built in Vitebsk and Orsha, a waste treatment plant should be reconstructed in Gomel. The cost of the second phase totals Euro118m. If this plan is implemented in full, the overall level of waste utilisation will be approximately 27% in 2020.

Morocco: The Moroccan government has stopped importing waste from Italy following protests by environmentalists. The row followed reports in local media that Lafarge Maroc imported 2500t of solid recovered fuel from Campania, Italy.

The government first tried to calm tensions over the issue by pointing out that the waste is being used as a fuel, follows international standards and is not the first shipment of its kind. However, it then buckled to public pressure and stopped imports of waste pending an investigation. Morocco previously agreed a three-year deal with Italy to import 5Mt of waste to its El Jadida region, according to AfricaNews.

India: The government has asked Coal India Ltd (CIL) to stay away from the initial rounds of coal block auctions due in January 2015 that are meant for the cement, power and steel industries. The state-run monopoly miner has, however, requested the government to reallocate a few blocks to it, including two that it had lost that were being jointly developed with private firms.

"We are a commercial producer of coal and we do not fit into the category for which the blocks are being auctioned," said a senior CIL official. "CIL will stay away from the first rounds of auctions." However, CIL is likely to participate in bidding when coal blocks are auctioned for commercial mining.

The company has requested that the government return the blocks that it lost following the Supreme Court's order rendering almost all allotments illegal 'because substantial investment has already been made by all parties in these blocks.' CIL had floated majority joint ventures with two private companies to undertake mining projects in those two blocks.