Your choices
Your Waste Disposal Options
Geocycle Vietnam, a business unit of Holcim Vietnam, can help you by providing a total waste management solution through co-processing of your waste in the cement kilns of Holcim. Co-processing is widely known as one of the most sustainable waste management solutions, a preferred alternative to landfilling and incineration in the waste management hierarchy.
The waste management hierarchy
This is a ranking of how waste is handled, ranging from an “ideal world” - avoiding and minimizing waste, at the top of the scale - to the ‘worst case’, a total lack of control at the bottom.
Waste options may be broadly defined into either disposal or recovery as follows:
Recycling
Ranked above co-processing because it re-uses basic raw materials, recycling effectively reduces the consumption of, and therefore helps conserve natural raw materials. It reduces energy and removes the threat of water and soil contamination from landfilling. Companies can improve their reputation through more efficient resource use, communities can gain jobs in recycling industries and the environment benefits from reduced risk of pollution.
Recovery
- Co-processing
This is a socially, ecologically secure and reasonable form of management for waste that cannot be avoided or recycled. Co-processing completely destroys the waste, while also recovering any embedded energy and mineral content through integration in the cement manufacturing process. Co-processing helps to preserve our natural resources, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and lowers the need for landfill space. It is beneficial for the environment as well as communities, and directly helps companies to reduce their ecological footprint
→ Please visit our co-processing page for more information
Disposal
- Incineration
Incineration reduces the volume of waste and converts it into bottom ash, flue gases, particulates, and heat that can generate electric power. However, incinerators still emit varying levels of heavy metals such as vanadium, manganese, chromium, nickel, arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium. Additionally, solid wastes not destroyed during incineration and then disposed in landfills can be toxic. Incineration leaves corporations open to possible liability issues as well as damaging negative publicity, particularly when dealing with hazardous wastes.
- Landfilling
Landfilling ranks low in desirability within the waste management hierarchy. Unfortunately, it is still a very common method for the final disposal of waste. What’s wrong with that? In landfills waste is not destroyed. As waste breaks down it can release methane gas, which is a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). If a landfill is not properly constructed and maintained it poses a serious risk of long term groundwater and soil contamination causing a major threat to human health and natural resources. Together these factors create potential risks for corporate liability and negative publicity.
