Thermopower ash and slag are considered normal waste

The volume of ash and slag generated by the coal-fired plants of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) alone is about 8.1 million tons a year. The plants in the north do not meet any problems in consuming ash and slag. Their partners are responsible for the consumption of the slag as per contracts signed between EVN and them. 

In the south, some EVN plants which have just been put into operation also signed contracts with partners on clearing slag. However, the volume of slag the partners have cleared remains modest.

Nguyen Tai Anh, deputy general director of EVN, said EVN commits to create the most favorable conditions for enterprises which have solutions to recycle and reuse ash and slag effective to access material sources at EVN plants.

EVN joined forces with inspection agencies including VinaControl (Vietnam) and JCoal (Japan) to have its ash and slag analyzed. The analysis showed that the slag from EVN plants is normal industrial solid waste in accordance with TCVN 10302: 2014 standards.

However, according to Anh, though thermopower slag is considered normal waste, no state agency has been assigned to grant certificates that the slag is not hazardous waste. 

Therefore, power plants still have to use experimental results and certificates granted by the Building Material Institute, which is an inadequate legal procedure. 

Decree 38 released in 2015 on waste management stipulates that enterprises licensed to treat hazardous waste are allowed to collect and transport normal industrial solid waste. However, it does not say clearly if other transport firms (without licenses for treating hazardous waste) can do this.

The unclear regulation also creates problems for enterprises to receive and transport ash and slag.

EVN, which owns the highest number of thermopower plants, is creating a procedure to invite companies and units to treat its ash and slag for the long term. 

EVN’s plants at Duyen Hai and Vinh Tan Power Centers and electricity generation corporations have drawn up projects on installing a fly ash pipeline system at ports to facilitate partners’ receipt of ash and ship the ash by sea. This reduces transport costs and increases ash consumption capability.

Vu Thanh Tuyen, director of Thanh Tuyen Construction, requested state management agencies to draw up a policy on encouraging enterprises to use products made of thermopower ash and slag.

He complained that the company has difficulties selling unburnt bricks made of slag because contractors do not use these bricks.

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