Mr. Suat ÇALBIYIK, Board Chairman, Cement Industry Employer’s Association, assessed waste usage in Turkish Cement Sector in the Energy Conversation Week. Having said that municipal wastes (garbage) are critical in order to increase the ratio of alternative fuel usage in Turkey to higher levels as in Europe and the world, Mr. Suat ÇALBIYIK added: “In Turkey, approximately 32 million tons/year municipal solid waste are produced, and such waste has an additional fuel production potential of at least 7 million tons. Utilization of such additional fuel in the cement sector makes possible to avoid importing about 3 million tons of coal leading to foreign currency savings and retrenchment of current deficit. On the other hand, it may also be possible to reduce greenhouse gases causing climate change as well as mitigate waste loads to be transferred to municipal solid waste landfills. Additionally, it would lower the operational costs for municipal landfills.
At the same time, “fuel derived from wastes” may be produced by processing municipal solid wastes in preprocessing facilities containing a biologic drying system to be established in municipal solid waste landfills. Such facilities may be established by municipalities or private enterprises. Non-recyclable materials of plastic, paper, cardboard, and textile as well as organic matters are to be dried and used as alternative fuel in the cement sector. Such a facility generates revenue from sales of recyclable materials and any alternative fuel produced.”
“60 million dollars of savings in 2018”
Reminding that 35 plants out of 55 cement plants operating across Turkey have a license of using wastes as alternative fuel, Mr. Suat ÇALBIYIK added: “While waste fuel usage as alternative fuel in our country was 88 thousand tons in 2008, this figure has reached only to 1 million tons in 2018. Amount of utilization of wastes as alternative raw material in our sector is 1.5 million tons in 2018. Utilization of 1 million tons of alternative fuel corresponds to a thermal substitution ratio of about 7%.In the cement plants in European Union countries, an average of about 44% of thermal energy (in some facilities, close to 100%) is met from wastes. In our country, by utilization of 1 million tons of wastes in the cement plants in 2018, a reduction of about 600 thousand tons of imported coal was possible, resulting in savings of about 60 million US Dollars.”