Benefits of a regional co-processing scheme: The case of steel/iron and cement industries in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
2021
Cravioto, Jordi | Yamasue, Eiji | Nguyễn, Đức Quang | Huy, Tran-Duc
South-East Asia has one of the highest economic growth rates in the world. Although industrial activity is rapidly expanding, production practices to increase material circularity and reduce environmental impact have yet to see sufficient progress. This article analyses the environmental benefits of implementing a regionally based co-processing scheme between the iron-steel and cement industries of three emergent South-East Asian economies: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Vietnam, already ranked as the 8th largest cement producer, can be a crucial contributor to a more symbiotic exchange of wastes with regional neighbours. A plan to increase the co-processed iron/steel slag at cement facilities (from 1 to 10 per cent) would translate into substantial gains in material circularity (0.83–8.33 M. tons of raw material savings per year) and carbon emission reductions in the region (0.95–9.07 Mt CO₂, i.e. 1.6 to 15.6 per cent of business as usual scenarios equal to reductions of 6 per cent of the total emissions). This scheme could provide further benefits over a nationally self-oriented strategy, revealed by the levels of material exchange within the countries. However, several considerations are essential to make such a scheme feasible. We discuss these critical factors, which are fundamental for a prospective join industrialisation strategy.
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