At present, Ukraine has piled up more than 20 billion tonnes of industrial waste occupying the area of approximately 55,000 hectares. The amount of solid waste gains an average of 1.4-1.5 billion tonnes per year. Since metallurgical mills consume the grea
At present, Ukraine has piled up more than 20 billion tonnes of industrial waste occupying the area of approximately 55,000 hectares. The amount of solid waste gains an average of 1.4-1.5 billion tonnes per year. Since metallurgical mills consume the greatest quantities of energy and resources and pollute the environment, metallurgical waste mainly consists of the smelting by-products, such as metallurgical slag and tailings.
There is no doubt that tailings can be recycled by the enterprises themselves, notably via agglomeration processes and in blast furnace shops. The only thing needed for this to happen is the right managerial decision within a particular enterprise. On the contrary, making of a well-reasoned decision on metallurgical slag requires industry-wide or even the governmental approach. One of the reasons for such a situation is that slags have the sufficient properties and qualities to be recycled not only at cinder-generating enterprises, but also in such allied industries as construction, cement making, road building, etc. In the present economic environment, enterprises simply fail to efficiently deal with this waste. Therefore, the waste keeps on constantly and spontaneously being accumulated in dumps. As a result, it causes pollution, as well as impedes ironmaking and steelmaking processes, because untimely slag removal leaves no vacant productive space, etc.
Taking into account the recession in output, the Institute Resource Management of Priazovye State Technical University, Mariupol city, has compiled the following forecast for formation of metallurgical cinder by late 2000: 12.6 million tonnes (t) of blast-furnace slag, 7.9 million t down compared to 20.5 million t in 1990;
5.2 million t of steelmaking slag, 2.2 million t down compared to 7.4 million t in 1990;
the total of 17.6 million t of metallurgical slag, 10.1 million t down against 27.9 million t back in 1990.
The following amounts of slag are expected to be salvaged in late 2000:
5.7 million t of blast furnace slag or 45.2% of the volume accumulated in the course of the year, 70 percentage points down compared to 115.2% in 1990;
1.6 million t of steelmaking slag or 30.6%, 72.1% percentage points down compared to 107% in 1990.
The unused portion of cinder amounting to roughly 10.5 million t will be dumped. Considering the large number of other industrial waste, e.g. mining waste, powder and gas wastage, which is very difficult to estimate precisely, and payment of pollution penalties, one can obviously see the mismanagement in this field. It is clear that the present situation is pressing for joint efforts of enterprises and executive bodies to work out a package of organizational and technological measures to improve the situation. Mainly, these steps ought to be aimed at systematic salvation of refuse, reduction of pollution effects, development and application of resource-saving technologies, backed with a stimulating system of incentives and well-reasoned penalties. To achieve this, it seems a good strategy for industrial enterprises to adopt a resource saving and environment-protection concept (action plan) as a priority. This concept should provide for concentration of limited financial, material, technical, and intellectual resources for resolution of top-priority resource-saving and environmental-protection tasks. The key component of this concept should be involvement of valuable waste in the recycling process. It especially concerns the types of waste that can serve as substitutes for natural raw materials, including for imported feedstock. Scientific and methodological recommendations adjusted to the present conditions should be the basis for generation of such a conception. The list of particular steps will be rather extensive. It will be necessary to use certification data and other information to specify the detailed information on the amount, composition and properties of the waste formed, on storage conditions, on the amount of waste already accumulated, on the area occupied, and the maintenance costs.
It will also be necessary to estimate the toxicity and resource value of the waster being formed. Waste inventory sheets will have to be compiled and submitted to environmental bodies and authorized institutions. Besides, there will be a need in issuing passports for environmentally-dangerous objects in compliance with the unit-sector-production system. Sure thing, the passports should contain the estimated figures of the pollution degree. It is obvious that there is a need in analyzing the opportunities for reclamation of resource-rich waste and disposal of toxic waste based on the current level of development of domestic and foreign science and technologies. Ukrainian industrial production requires a systemic approach to salvation of resource-containing waste and disposal of unusable elements using advanced home and foreign technologies and with direct participation of foreign companies. It is also important to work out territorial schemes of waste storage with systemic analysis of their possible changes in accordance with the expansion schedules of industrial facilities.
Natural, social and economic, technical, and environmental factors need to be assessed as well. This will allow more efficient recovery of wastes and secondary resources, as well as combined consumption of these secondary materials at allied enterprises. It is also very important to determine the most rational ways for complex application of industrial waste and to estimate effectiveness of various technologies. Afterwards, it will be up to development of scientifically-grounded tactics and strategy for resolution of the problem, which will require creation of an information database. The database will be involved in technical and economic assessment of possible waste salvation alternatives. Following the assessment, specific steps will be taken and particular tasks will be assigned to recycle industrial waste and obtain various products.
It goes without saying that execution of the mentioned steps should pay a special heed to organizational issues, which do not require significant capital investments, but can secure considerable environmental and economical benefits due to changes in the organizational pattern of material resources’ production and consumption. Such organizational measures may embrace establishment of small-size enterprises, specialized inter-sectoral centers, and joint ventures with foreign companies dealing with environmental issues and cost-efficient use of resources. The keystone is that most industrial wastes contain valuable resources and serve as a comparatively cheap source of raw materials for different industries. The present state of science and technologies allows the country to resolve these problems, given auspicious conditions, mainly with financing (in particular, incentives for foreign investors). For example, application of metallurgical slag in road building, which is the primary consumer of this type of waste, saves up to UAH 100,000 per 1 km of the road. Even though transportation is comparatively expensive, it is still profitable to use cinder in regions located as far as 300-400 km from the areas of slag formation (for example, in Sumy, Kharkov, and Chernigov regions). Application of slag in road construction lowers the construction costs 1.5-2 times compared to application of natural rocks. In addition, since metallic inclusions constitute 3 to 14% of metallurgical cinder, they can serve as an additional source of scrap for steelmaking.
Considering all this, it seems expedient to set up a special division for resource-saving and environment protection within the structure of the Association of Ferrous Metallurgical Enterprises or within another similar body authorized to coordinate metalmaking activities. Along with resolving of current issues, what tasks should this division tackle? First of all, this division should give scientific, methodological, and organizational backup to measures provided for in “The Program of reclamation of manufacturing and consumption wastes till 2005” (enforced by resolution No.666 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 23, 1997), as well as in industrial programs and waste-disposal-related decisions of executive and legislative bodies. Another task is definition of priority directions of scientific, technical, organizational, methodical, and practical activities to deal with waste disposal and recycling. The division should be responsible for compilation and execution of waste salvation programs in individual metallurgical mills, as well as should partake in elaboration of similar programs at the regional and national levels. It is about as important to ensure interaction with national, regional, and local authorities, and control bodies during resolution of issues related to cost-efficient waste disposal and salvation. Certainly, the division should maintain constant business contacts with various CIS and non-CIS institutions involved in issues of processing and recycling manufacturing and consumption wastes. These contacts can embrace participation in Ukrainian and international symposia, conferences, debates, and seminars.
Another intrinsic function of such a division is conduct of mandatory expert examination of the most important projects as regards salvation and recovery of manufacturing and consumption wastes. The division can also single out the tested domestic and foreign processes suitable for introduction at specific home enterprises, as well as execute control over execution of measures provided for in governmental programs. Besides, this division should keep registers and conduct technological audit of operations on waste storage, processing and transportation by all kinds of companies. In addition, it ought to determine the types of resource-rich waste to serve as substitutes for imports and to replace scarce natural feedstock.
Enterprises, organizations, municipal budgets, and natural environmental funds would voluntarily participate and contribute money to this division. These financial resources will be used for creation of new and upgrade and reconstruction of the functioning waste-recycling facilities, as well as for marketing research to determine the opportunities for waste recovery and use as man-made secondary materials.
This tentative list of division’s duties and functions is far from complete. Another task could be assistance to foundation of specialized enterprises on waste collection, salvation, recovery, and disposal, as well as assistance in design, manufacturing, assembly, and maintenance of the applicable equipment. The division should also work jointly with enterprises and local authorities to grant incentives to enterprises engaged in waste salvation and recovery, as well as popularize the laws on waste disposal to involve the population in collection and procurement of valuable waste.
In short, effective operations of this division could encourage highly efficient and optimal management decision-making to meet the objectives defined.
Commentary
Boris SUKHAREV, deputy CEO with the Ukrainian Association of Ferrous Metallurgical Enterprises
The issue of recycling industrial waste has always been an urgent one on the Ukraine’s agenda. Unfortunately, Ukraine ranks the first in Europe and in the CIS in terms of waste accumulation per capita. More metallurgical slag is dumped, while the piled up cinder already totals more than 100 million tonnes. More lands are used as dumps. In recent years, only Mariupol-based Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works had to seize some more 40 hectares of dry land and 90 ha of waters of the Sea of Azov to dump their wastes.
The main problem is that cheap construction materials that were the main recycled product made of metallurgical waste have run out of demand. Freightage rates for railway transportation of these products have been increased fourfold, imports are now charged ecological and radiological duties, accumulation of slag has become subject to new charges. Besides, taxes levied on sales of products have grown higher, it has become more difficult to register in all the applicable export and transportation documents and recycling permits, etc. Recycling management and research and development on recycling have become disorganized.
Of course, the existing situation with metallurgical waste calls for a number of executive measures. The executive board of the Ukrainian Assn of Ferrous Metallurgical Enterprises has addressed the Ukraine’s Cabinet to consider exemption of metallurgical mills from taxes on sales of products made of metallurgical slag, reduction in railway freightage rates, and removal of slag from the list of dangerous cargo. Affirmative decision on these issues will lead to reclamation of 20 to 30 million tonnes of metallurgical slag per year, thus backing efficient activities of metallurgical mills, construction firms, and other industrial companies.
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