Bokaro Steel Plant earns Rs 550 cr by selling its waste

Steel major Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) is earning more than Rs 550 crore revenue annually by selling its solid wastes. Apart from earning this huge amount, the company is also saving around Rs 250-280 crore yearly by recycling or reusing these wastes again in the production process. These solid wastes are generated in different units inside the plant during the steel making process. The net sale of the BSL in 2019-20 is Rs 13,212 crore, of which about Rs 550 crore was made by selling its waste in the open market, reports The Telegraph.

There are eight different kinds of solid wastes generated in the BSL plant, a unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). These are BF Slag, LD Slag, waste refractories, Ferric Oxide, ESP (RMP) dust, BF flue dust, mill scale and coke breeze. Of its BF slag is a hot product and LD slag is being developed. Apart from these two, BSL also gets good earnings from the sale of waste refractories, Ferric Oxide and ESP (RMP) dust. Apart from these five, rest three are reused fully by BSL in its own production.

The BSL, which claimed to have been utilizing 98.12 percent of its generated solid waste has won the prestigious Greentech Environment Excellence Award 2020 in the “Recycling and Waste Management” Category this year. Greentech Environment Awards 2020 is presented in recognition of responsible, innovative practices and initiatives towards achieving sustainable goals

These are the new avenues where BSL’s generated solid waste is utilised:

• “Steel Slag – Flyash” based bricks
• Use of weathered LD slag of 20-65 mm size as rail track ballast
• Steam ageing facility of BOF slag for its use as cement concrete
• Use of LD slag as soil conditioner for acidic soil of Jharkhand
• Use of air-cooled blast furnace slag in road making