Energy firms oppose regulation on B3 waste treatment
Saturday, February 9 2013 - 02:24 AM WIB
The companies said that the requirement to build a waste treatment would further increase their operating costs because its construction would be very costly. The companies also protested the plan because they were not involved in the drafting of the regulation.
The office of the ministry of environmental affairs is currently drafting a regulation on the treatment of dangerous and toxic wastes (B3 wastes) as part of the implementation of the environment law No 32/2009.
According to the draft regulation, all industrial wastes such as liquid coal sludge (from coal processing), slag (from nickel and copper processing) and drill cuttings (from drilling activities) should be processed through a special waste treatment plant.
Hendra Sinadia, the Executive Secretary of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA), said that the companies strongly protested the issuance of such regulation not only because it would be very costly to build a waste treatment plant, but also due to the fact that mining wastes such as nickel slags were mostly used as materials for road construction.
Under the new regulation, all the slags should be processed and would no longer be allowed to be used as the materials for road construction. The production of nickel slags could reach million tons per day, he said. (*)