MechChem Africa September 2019

⎪ Environmental management, waste and cleaning technologies ⎪

Stringent new environmental rules target the petrochemical industry

With environmental protection topping the global agenda and the South African Government continually introducing new regulations, producers and handlers of hazardous waste face a period of adjust- ment and investment to ensure they are compliant, while thewaste sector is having to re-think the waste chain in partnership with its clients. “One of the ways in which this thinking is reframing our attitude towards waste is the need to build an integratedwaste cycle – commonly referred to as the ‘circular economy’,”saysJohanvandenBerg,manag- ing director of Averda, a leading integrated wastemanagement companywithdecades of experience in safely handling the most hazardous of waste. He adds that a successful circular economy designs, manufactures, uses and reuses products for as long as possible. And the ideal scenario is for only truly spent items to be discarded as waste. This endeavour is taking on greater urgency with the introduction of new proscriptions that prohibit the disposal of hydrocarbon-based materials at local landfill sites. This could have far-reaching conse- quences for producers within the petro- chemical industry, as significant investment will be needed to ensure their liquid waste is correctly processed. “The new regulations should be ap- plauded for helping to improve how all waste, but particularly liquid hazardous waste is handled,” van den Berg says. “The more stringent measures will undoubtedly reduce the threat of waste seepingintothenaturalenvironment,butin the short term this will require investment to get facilities to thenecessary standards.”

There are, however, a number of posi- tives to be taken from this new regulatory environment. For one, certain liquid waste can be converted, after processing, into speciality fuels that are of interest to other sectors – suchasmanufacturingplants that are looking for alternatives to replace the coal used within kilns. Producing such fuel from waste is no small feat and requires considerable invest- ment to do so in ways that comply with the newWasteClassificationandManagement Regulations.This is precisely what Averda has done to ensure that selected hazard- ous waste facilities are able to receive, store and blend hazardous waste sludge (liquids and solids) to produce fuel by- products with the new blending facility. These high-tech factories are where all liquid waste is blended and transformed into special fuels. “Currently, options like refuse-derived fuel and anaerobic diges- tion are only available in selected regions, whereas bio-drying andgasificationarenot available at all,” van den Berg says. “Investing in compliance will drive vital funds into an industry that is plagued by under-pricing – increasing the ability for waste experts to invest in much-needed alternative technologies. “Our Vlakfontein high-hazardous- class landfill site in the Vaal Triangle is an example of the design and engineering required to meet the standards set in the regulations.” Built at a cost of R250 million, the site has the capacity for six cells that will offer 6.5million cubicmetres of landfill capacity. This will be home to a high-tech blending facility able to process Averda’s clients’ wasteresponsiblyandtothehighstandards set in the new regulations. q

The ROSE Foundation has championed the responsible collection of over 1.5 billion litres of used oil in South Africa since its in- ception 25 years ago. “ROSE has proved that recycling protects the environment, creates widespread employment opportunities and has a knock-on financial benefit for many. All recycling models need to be sustainable and need to work towards a circular economy to be viable in the long term,” concludes Nyiba. q

The ROSE Foundation has championed the responsible collection of over 1.5 billion litres of used oil in South Africa since its inception 25 years ago.

September 2019 • MechChem Africa ¦ 27