Mawlamyine Cement Limited (MCL) cement factory located in Kyaikmaya Township in Mon State, will soon burn plastic waste rather than coal fuel. The switch of fuel sources was a negotiated agreement, between the Mon State government and the company, according to the Mon State Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Dr. Min Kyi Win.
“We have decided to substitute [plastic waste] in all the cement factories in the state and region. In line with that decision, we have coordinated with the MCL to replace coal fuel with plastic. It means coal is reduced,” said Dr. Min Kyin Win.
Plastic is made from refined crude oil. A process called gasification involves heating the waste plastic with air or steam, to produce a valuable industrial gas mixtures called “synthesis gas”, or syn gas. This can then be used to produce diesel and petrol, or burned directly in boilers to generate electricity.
Dr. Kyin Win added that when a factory agrees to use plastic waste as fuel, the government will continue to work on the company’s fuel system and the amount of waste disposal it can make.
“If the factory is built to run with coal fuel, it has to adopt new technology for plastic replacement. Also, the factory needs to prepare the exact amount of plastic demand, like, how many tons of plastic will need to supply daily,” added Dr. Min Kyi Win.
The coordination with the company was made in accordance with a decision obtained from the National Environmental Conservation and Climate Change Central Committee meeting.
According to Daw Kyi Kyi Mya, a Secretary of the Mon State Hluttaw Environmental Monitoring Committee, if the coal is to be replaced with plastic, they need to carefully plan to ensure that local people will be not harmed or negatively impacted.
“The local people do not accept coal. The Hluttaw committee has submitted field reports on the environmental impact, and the government needs to continue to do so,” she added.
Local people and environmental activists have repeatedly opposed the MCL Cement factory for using 40 megawatts of coal fuel to generate electricity power and urges the factory to use alternative fuel instead.
