SHANGHAI, May 23 (SMM) – China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment earlier this month carried out a week-long inspection of solid waste treatment at steel mills across 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River but sources told SMM the impact was minimal.
During May 9-15, inspections were undertaken in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. However, as most mills were equipped with efficient recycling and treatment measures for waste slag, production was believed to be uninterrupted as mills continued to chase high margins in the short term.
Steel mills produce waste water, gas and slag during iron and steel smelting process. Mills generally sell blast furnace slag to cement plants either directly or after it is processed. Steel slag would either be recycled back to the furnaces or sold to construction companies.
A source at a steel mill told SMM it sells its waste materials to new-energy recycling companies to sieve out iron-containing materials and produce sinter ore.
Another source said that the mill where he was employed owns a specific plant for manufacturing slag powder that it sells to cement plants at about 220 yuan/mt. Slag that does not contain iron would be sold to construction companies to be made into bricks or for backfilling.
High-tech environmental protection facilities were also seen at a third mill that recycled most of the waste slag, SMM learned.
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