OREANDA-NEWS  On 26 September was announced, that Irkutsk region started to settle problem of recycling waste from operation of thermal power stations. In the Irkutsk region, for years of the power supply system operation, ash disposal areas accumulated nearby 80 million tons of ash which are the most serious source of environmental contamination of the region. JSC Irkutskzoloprodukt's Director Tatyana Lobanova said today at the round table conference "Rational Subsoil Management is a Path to Success", a total annual output of ash waste products equaled nearby 1.7 million tons.

In total, 13 large thermal power stations operate in the Irkutsk region. The volume of consumption of coal grows annually. Last year, 10 million tons of coal were processes; this year the figure equaled 14 million tons; in 2015, 26 million tons are planned to be processed. It is expected that within a few years there will not be any place in the Irkutsk region to store ash waste products.

According to Tatyana Lobanova, JSC Irkutskenergo started realization of the project on formation of sales and recycling market of ash waste products of the company's thermal power stations in 2004. This was caused by necessity of fuller use of valuable raw material which is generated during burning of coals of various sorts and quality.

Ash waste materials can be used as additive and fillers at production of a wide spectrum of building materials: cement, concrete, solutions, a brick and so on. They can be used at laying roads. They have the certain value in agriculture, namely in fertilizer production.

The mineral processing faculty of Irkutsk State Technical University is engaged in studying opportunities of deeper processing of waste. According to Vera Vlasova, Assistant Professor of this faculty, waste contains silica, oxides of iron, aluminum, and also rare elements: strontium, gallium, and others. The valuable components contents in ash waste products is nearby 70 million tons, the most part of which are dormant that is it can be subjected to processing.

Not only large enterprises took interest in ash waste products (such as Angarsk Cement Plant which uses ashes of thermal power station-1 in its main manufacture), but also small and medium manufactures which due to access to cheaper raw material receive competitive advantages in a developing market of building materials of the area.