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Recycling and Environment

		The Recycling and Environment Business

Tokuyama's cement plants commenced operations in 1938 with the objective of making efficient use of byproducts from the Company's soda ash plants and coal ash from its own electrical power generation facilities. Today, Tokuyama receives a large volume of wastes and byproducts generated externally as well as internally for their recycled utilization. Many of the wastes and byproducts contain the same components as those of the raw materials used for cement such as limestone, clay, and ganister (silica stone). They can therefore be used as materials for cement. Also, combustible wastes can be used as energy.

Cement kilns are operated at extremely high temperatures in the range of 1,000 - 1,800 C, so all combustible components are completely incinerated. In addition, the ash being in the same composition as feedstock for cement production can be all utilized as the feedstock without process reject waste.

Tokuyama is pursuing research and development on this business, intending to enlarge acceptable volumes and types of waste materials.

A cement kiln

		Disposal and use of waste at a cement plant

		Types of waste handled

Category of waste	Type of waste
Waste plastic (Excluding polyvinyl chloride)	Waste plastic (flexible and hard) After shredding at a recycled plastic fuel plant, it is injected directly into the kiln and used as a substitute fuel.
Sludge	Construction sludge, water supply sludge, sewage sludge, paper sludge, fuel sludge, factory wastewater sludge, Organic sludge Low-moisture-content sludge can be used as an alternate cement material as is. High-moisture-content sludge such as sewage sludge must be stored in a special airtight tank, and then used as alternative cement materials.
Waste soil	Waste soil from construction
Incinerator ash	Waste-incinerator ash Can be used as a cement material as is. Tokuyama receives waste-incinerator ash from Yamaguchi Eco-Tech Co., Ltd.
Soot and dust	Coal ash, heavy oil ash Coal ash is used as an alternative cement material. Heavy oil ash is used as an alternative fuel.
Animal waste	Meat-and-bone meal
Wood scraps	Wood scraps
Effluent	Photographic developer solution, expired beverages, flammable waste fluids, waste alkali After storage in a special tank, it is placed in a dryer. Flammable waste fluids are injected into a pre-calciner and used as an alternative fuel.
Burnt residue	Clinker ash, burnt residue
Tailings	Blast furnace slag, converter slag, steelmaking slag, neutralization residue

*1 Some types of waste other than those listed above can be used. Contact the appropriate supervisor for details.
*2 Some types of waste cannot be handled due to their inappropriate properties, condition, and/or components

		Recycled plastic fuel business

Tokuyama was quick to tackle the development of waste plastic recycling systems, and succeeded in developing technology to inject large volumes of shredded waste plastic into the front of a kiln. Based on this, in 1999 the Company built a recycled plastic fuel plant (shredding capacity: 15,000 tons per year), primarily to support thermal recycling of waste plastics in cement production. The Company subsequently expanded the plant in response to growing demand for consignment of waste plastics, and it can now accept, shred, and incinerate 125,000 tons per year of waste plastics.

		Note:

In 2002, this technology received the Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau Director-General Award, which is one of the Resource Recycling Technology and Systems Citations sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

		Waste plastic recycling flow

		Conversion of waste-incinerator ash to cement materials

As a core element of the Yamaguchi Eco-Town Project, centered in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Tokuyama developed technology to recycle waste-incinerator ash as a cement material. To implement this technology, Tokuyama and Ube Industries, Ltd., established Yamaguchi Eco-Tech Co., Ltd. to receive incinerator ash from municipal incinerators in Yamaguchi Prefecture and process it into materials for cement production. Yamaguchi Eco-Tech commenced operations in April 2002.

The Yamaguchi Method, in which all the waste-incinerator ash in the entire prefecture is collected to one location for preliminary processing, is the first such operation in Japan, and as such has attracted a great deal of attention. Yamaguchi Eco-Tech can process 50,000 tons of waste incinerator ash per year.

		Corporate data

Name:	Yamaguchi Eco-Tech Co., Ltd.
Established	April 2001
Capitalization	90 million yen
Address	745-0024 7-46 Harumi, Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture Tel: +81-834-34-2935 Fax: +81-834-33-3746
Business activities	Removal of hazardous substances from waste incinerator ash for the purpose of recycling it into materials for cement production.
Shareholders	Tokuyama Corp., 50% Ube Industries, Ltd., 50%

		For more information

		Recycled Resources Sales Dept.

Tokyo Head Office

Kasumigaseki Common Gate West Tower
2-1, Kasumigaseki 3-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8983, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3597-5062
Fax: +81-3-3597-5100

Osaka Branch

Nakanoshima Central Tower
2-7, Nakanoshima 2-chome
Kita-ku Osaka city, Osaka 530-0005, Japan
Tel: +81-6-6201-7206
Fax: +81-6-6201-7229

Tokuyama Factory

4900-4 Nagisa-cho, Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture 745-8648
Tel: +81-834-34-2505
Fax: +81-834-33-3547

Recycling and Environment

Recycling and Environment

The Recycling and Environment Business

Disposal and use of waste at a cement plant

Types of waste handled

Recycled plastic fuel business

Note:

Waste plastic recycling flow

Conversion of waste-incinerator ash to cement materials

Corporate data

For more information

Recycled Resources Sales Dept.

Tokyo Head Office

Osaka Branch

Tokuyama Factory