Russia and China: The Ash and Slag Route

The People’s Republic of China is the leader in coal generation. Disposal of ash and slag waste [secondary mineral resources used in making concrete for all kinds of construction – Ed.] has been practiced since the mid-20th century. We see that our Chinese colleagues have accumulated tremendous experience in the regulations and fundamentals of operations in this sector of secondary use of materials — Pavel Barilo, Executive Director, Siberian Generation Company.

Like our Chinese partners, we have moved forward significantly in legal regulation: we have passed a key law on secondary material resources and developed a comprehensive plan for increasing economic turnover of ASW. […] If we look at the mechanisms, such as financial support measures, China has made major progress and we are studying this experience to see possible uses for it in the Russian legislation — Irina Zolotova, General Director, National Association of Secondary Material Application.

We are engaged in very fruitful work and collaboration with our Russian colleagues and we intend to expand this experience. [...] Regarding our collaboration with Russia, we need to prioritize consideration of border territories for efficiently structuring a production chain and deliveries, and properly laying out the logistics — Wen Peng, General Manager, SRON Silo Engineering.

Communication is key both in Russia–China collaboration and within BRICS as a whole. Now we have [...] an operating basis for our Russian colleagues in Fujian Province and we would be very happy to continue collaborating and communicating for more in-depth interaction and exchange of experience in science and technologies — Mehri Aliev, Director, Russian-Chinese Research Center for Digital Economy.

Recycled ash and slag in Russia totals about 20% of annual generation. Our Chinese partners have achieved significant results: the share of recycled [ash and slag] in China totals 70%. […] Use of ash and slag in Russia is based on the mining and construction model. This is largely an area that uses ash and slag in low-profit, low-tech areas. These include land reclamation, mining excavations and construction — Irina Zolotova, General Director, National Association of Secondary Material Application.

Today, the Siberian Generating Company is conducting a series of research projects for developing use of ash and slag in construction. Russia has dozens of power stations that require updating of their equipment for loading and storing ash and slag. Currently, a market is emerging for combustion product disposal — Pavel Barilo, Executive Director, Siberian Generation Company.

The main problem here is consumers’ fear of the supervisory and environmental bodies. Recyclers have no desire to handle an additional load such as working with the Federal Supervisory Service for Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), which is a kind environmental prosecutor’s office. Consumers do not wish to face new environmental risks of undergoing state environmental assessments so we need to focus on actively certifying technologies and products that contain secondary raw materials — Pavel Barilo, Executive Director, Siberian Generation Company.

We need to pass a law on ash and slag. […] We need to explain that it is not garbage, it is a product — Denis Terekhov, Deputy, Legislative Assembly of the Krasnoyarsk Krai.

We need to provide new, highly competitive technologies. We can use coal yet, at the same time, we should process all waste in a sensible manner. It should be ‘green energy’. Coal energy can be green, too, and digitalization is the key to this. We should achieve a technological breakthrough — Yui Xiao, Director, Research Center for Digital Development of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Administration Institute.

At the moment, together with the Ministry of Energy, we have compiled a best practice database, that is, we have laid down the technological foundations for rolling out existing practices. To bring consumers and manufacturers closer together, we have compiled and digitized everything that applies to use of ash and slag in Russia; we have designed an interactive map, ash yard digital passports. […] This is our proposal, together with our Chinese partners, to consider the possibility of compiling a technologies database — Irina Zolotova, General Director, National Association of Secondary Material Application.

The year 2022 saw adoption of key legislative amendments allowing for use of ash and slag in several areas at once, including construction, road building and agriculture. [...] This year saw adoption of a support system via public contracts, i.e., involving ASW in construction first of all — Andrey Maximov, Head of the Department of Electric Power Development, Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation.

In Sakhalin and in the Amur Region, we use [...] ash at enterprises that manufacture aerated concrete; they [ash and slag – Ed.] are substituted for sand. [...] Our area is developing concrete mix recipes making primary use of ash instead of clinkers in cement — Dmitry Belyaev, General Director, RusHydro CS; Director of Strategic Transactions Department, RusHydro.