Yalçın ALPBAZ
General Manager
Turkey Cement & Ready-Mixed Concrete
Çimentaş
In the general sense, alternative fuels are being used as additional sources in the past ten years in the industry. The biggest effect of this use of additional alternative fuel sources is, by making the need for fossil fuels less, they help maintain a more environmentally friendly production process in the industry. In addition, this usage decreases the need for foreign energy resources thus positively affecting the national economy.
The usage of waste products as alternative raw material allows us to cut down on the usage of raw materials obtained from natural resources in the production of cement. In addition, this also results in a decreased need of storage spaces, which is a plus. This alternative usage is so effective that components such as limestone, clay, iron ore that are supplied from raw material furnaces become substitutable.
The amount of waste used in the cement industry and the investments that are being planned to be made in order to incorporate this waste into the operation, are directly associated with the distances these recyclable wastes are located at. This is why in locations that have relatively low industry such as the eastern parts of the country, the usage of alternative fuels are low as well. However, in the western parts, these numbers are seen in the rise in comparison to the eastern parts. For example, in our Edirne factory, in 201524,1 % of our fuel power was received from alternative fuels and this number went up to 24,5 i %n 2016. This usage of the recycled energy prevented the import of 60 thousand tons of coal.
The steady increase of the usage of alternative fuel in the industry over the years, brought with it investments in the establishment of advanced supply systems. Especially in the facilities that use large amounts of waste to recycle, the existence of the advanced supply systems provides sustainable and homogeneous supply, also reduces the risks related to occupational health and safety. The investments regarding the waste recycled fuel usage reached a total of 50 million TL in our group factories’ İzmir and Edirne facilities. 75 % of this investment is used for Edirne and 25 % percent of it is used for İzmir facilities. We plan to continue our investments on recycled fuel usage in our facilities in the future. We see this endeavor as a part of our environmental and social responsibility. We also plan to lead our future investment strategies in the direction of the demand we would get from the regions where our facilities are located in order to increase the amount of alternative fuel usage.
As a responsible industrial producer, we care about the struggle that our planet has with the greenhouse gases since the times of industrial revolution. This is why we give a lot of importance to the subject of alternative fuel technologies becoming a part of the stages of production and we continue our research and development studies regarding this matter. The uncontrollable increase of the greenhouse gases lead to the major climate changes that in turn cause a lot of negative effects. By the efforts of companies who are in the industrial production field, a balance to neutralize these negative effects, is trying to be established with the continuous investments made in this field. Our company continues to contribute to this cause, by its efforts and investments.
