No cement unit is now allowed to import or use Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF) without obtaining consent from the concerned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Designated National Authority (DNA) of the related international convention-protocol.
According to new guidelines issued by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), cement industry would also be required to produce information and report to the concerned EPA on monthly basis, including quantity of TDF imported, quantity of TDF used, quantity of local TDF used and amount of coal-fuel used during its operations.
A clean TDF is composed of about 80-88% of carbon and oxygen, which accounts for its rapid combustion and relatively high heating value in the range of 7000-8000 kcal/kg. Cement units will procure clean, properly sized (2 inch), high-energy-content Tyre Derived Fuel as far as possible. Each consignment of TDF will be accompanied by a certificate from DNA of the exporting country verifying that the consignment of TDF does not contain or is contaminated with hazardous substances.
An official said the objective of these guidelines is to provide guidance for using TDF as supplementary fuel in the cement manufacturing and prescribe procedures for monitoring of emissions. He said: “Pakistan has 29 cement plants with total installed capacity of 44 million tons. The shortage of natural gas and increasing cost of oil and coal adversely affected cement production in the country. A number of cement units then approached the federal and provincial Environmental Protection Agencies for issuance of consent under local, national and international obligations for import, processing and use of TDF.”
The official said every cement factory would get its feeding system and pollution control technologies-equipment inspected before the use of TDF as fuel and a joint team comprising the representatives of DNA and concerned EPA would assess the facilities of the cement unit and also witness the test trial of use of TDF.
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