The Kaohsiung City Government has started an initiative to promote the use of reprocessed slag in public construction works in a bid to avoid random dumping of the toxic waste by the private sector.
The city has four trash incinerators that process 1.3 million tonnes of garbage and produce about 250,000 tonnes of slag each year.
About a quarter of the nation’s 1 million tonnes of slag yearly comes from the city, the most of any municipality.
If the slag is buried in the city’s 35 landfills, it would only take two to three years to fill them to capacity.
The city government used to commission private companies to process its slag, but police found that some firms did not process it properly and instead illegally dumped it in ponds, causing serious pollution.
In response, the city decided to process the slag by itself.
Starting in September, the city is to promote its reuse in public construction works, the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau said, adding that the Environmental Protection Administration has also promised to help find other public works that could use the city’s slag.
The bureau estimated that the city could save NT$50 million (US$1.63 million) annually by processing the slag itself.
However, the reuse of slag has limitations, the bureau said.
With proper treatment, it could be used to fill roadbeds and road dikes, but it cannot be used in buildings because it is not solid enough, it said.
Earlier this year, the bureau decided to conduct a slag reuse project in a 1-hectare section of a 4-hectare landfill in the city’s Lujhu District (路竹), which does not need to undergo an environmental impact assessment because of its age.
The bureau said it would spend NT$90 million to rent machines from private firms to turn the slag into a reusable product.
Open tender for the project has closed.
With the administration’s help, the city is also to upgrade its landfills, extending their lifespan by 10 to 12 years, it added.
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