Geocycle set up at Katunayake Export Processing Zone :

Holcim commissions Rs. 200 m waste management unit

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The pre-processing facility - Geocycle, a business unit of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd was commissioned yesterday with an investment of Rs. 200 million as a dedicated waste management organization at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone (KEPZ).

Lack of appropriate methods for the treatment of industrial waste in Sri Lanka has caused socio-economic and ecological problems. In this context, the cement industry is obliged to offer the services of its kilns to develop sustainable industrial waste management solutions, employing a globally proven and accepted technology- cement kiln co-processing, said Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa.

More industrialists have shown concern regarding environment preservation and a waste management facility of this nature would promote green environment. The initiative by Holcim is important at a time when the world is facing environment challenges such as climate change and global warming, he said.

The state-of-the art technology in waste management has the capacity to cater to a large volume of industrial waste in an environmentally friendly manner.

Geocycle intends to give priority to those based in the zone, while gradually extending its services to other industrial customers as well. With the pre-processing facility in operation, 16 percent of the energy requirement of Holcim could be met and this will provide a total solution to the solid waste generated by KEPZ customers.

A large number of industrial customers around Colombo and the suburbs would have the service to dispose their waste in an environmentally friendly manner.

The pre-processing facility consists of a solid waste receiving and processing facility and a scheduled waste pre-processing facility.

Two separate treatment yards to offer a pre-process facility and solid waste and liquid waste will be fully utilized to cater to the scheduled and non-scheduled waste generated by industrial customers in the country.

The facility will provide the services of transportation of waste oil and noxious liquid in specialized vehicles, impregnation of waste oil and sludge with saw dust, pre-processing of waste from customers prior to delivery to the Puttalam Cement factory, create a homogenization waste derived fuel or raw material for co-processing in cement kilns, storing of waste and expansion of operations of Geocycle to serve a wider range of waste and waste generators.