Unbaked brick production from ash and cinder should be further boosted to protect the environment, limit clay exploitation and reduce emissions from brick kilns, the Ministry of Industry and Trade told a conference, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Workers produce unbaked bricks from ashes and cinders - PHOTO: VGP

Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) and the Thermo Scientific and Technical Society Association of Vietnam on June 20 held a conference, titled “Manufacturing Building Materials from Ash and Cinder,” to discuss solutions to challenges faced by enterprises in producing materials from ashes and cinders.

A report by EVN indicated that the country’s 12 operational coal-fired thermal power plants discharge a total of 8.1 million tons of ash and cinder each year, and the amount of waste stocked at these plants has reached some 15 million tons.

Although the plants have teamed with various facilities that use ash and cinder for production to deal with this waste, some generators such as Quang Ninh, Mong Duong 1, Duyen Hai and Vinh Tan are suffering from excessive inventories of ash and cinder.

Kieu Van Mat, chairman of Song Da Cao Cuong Joint Stock Company, said the execution of the plan to switch from baked bricks to unbaked bricks at a rate of 40-60% remains on hold. The use of unbaked bricks in Vietnam amounts to 15-18% after eight years of deployment, while other nations such as Malaysia and Thailand show a 65% consumption of the products, he stressed.

Mat lamented that like his company, domestic enterprises have been faced with many difficulties in manufacturing unbaked bricks since 2010.

The enterprise also proposed the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issue clear regulations on standards for ashes, cinders and types of building materials.

It is suggested that if ash and cinder are listed as hazardous waste, enterprises will incur an inspection cost of VND3 million per container, making them unable to compete with similar products in foreign markets. Besides this, incentive policies on using unbaked bricks should be established to deal with the problem, Mat remarked.

A representative of Hoang Son Co., Ltd, a facility using ash and cinder from the Vinh Tan and Duyen Hai thermal power plants, complained that ash and cinder transport and consumption in southern Vietnam are much tougher than those in the northern region due to the high costs of transport and vehicle-hiring services.

EVN and similar plants should invest and build conveyor lines to transport ash and cinder to ships, the representative suggested, adding that high consumption of these materials could be expected in the coming period if this suggestion is to be approved.

EVN pledged to set standards and regulations to guide ash and cider collection, transport, recycling and use. The group will throw its weight behind enterprises in seeking solutions to ensuring the quality of ash and cinder from plants and enhancing production from the waste.

SGT