Use of plastic waste in iron and steel industry can convert waste to wealth: Steel Minister

Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said that the use of plastic waste in place of cooking and non-cooking coal in the steel industry will come a long way in reducing plastic waste by converting waste to health. He was addressing the inaugural session of the Plastic Recycling Conference, Asia.2.0. in Gurugram.

Expressing his hope that industries will play a vital role in making this planet pollution-free, he said that the step will not just reduce plastic waste but reduce coal imports and create new employment opportunities. Today India’s per capita consumption of plastic is around 13.6 Kg against the world average of around 30 Kg. India is consuming around 18 million tonnes of plastic every year, a government statement said.

The Ministry of Steel organized a meeting in March to discuss the findings of the report “Plastic Waste Utilization in Iron and Steel industry” by the Steel Research And Technology Mission of India (SRTMI). In the meeting, he observed that the use of plastic waste can reduce dependency on coal imports, minimize greenhouse gas emissions from coal consumption and address the issue of disposal of plastic waste.

Several countries like Europe, Japan are already using all kinds of plastics for producing steel for quite some time.

The use of coal further addresses the concerns over the generation of carcinogenic gases encountered during energy generation or incineration activities. The union ministry of steel expects that 1 Kg of plastic use shall replace around 1.3 Kg of coal and Iron and steel industry has the potential to consume around 2-3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year based on the present capacity and more than 8 million tonnes by 2030-31.

The Minister added that people together must ensure the air quality, water and food. He said that working on developing clean and green steel, decarbonisation and carbon-neutral in a planned manner will be beneficial for the future.