The world’s first facility for the comprehensive utilization of solid waste and carbon dioxide in mineralization processes will be able to process 3 million tons of solid waste per year, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons

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The world’s first project for the comprehensive utilization of solid waste and carbon dioxide through mineralization was implemented at Baotou Steel. In the future, this facility will be able to process 3 million tons of solid waste per year, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons. On July 31, the second phase of the first stage of Baotou Steel Group’s project for the comprehensive utilization of steel slag through carbonation was launched – a 100,000-ton demonstration project. This is the world’s first project of its kind, and it holds great significance for addressing the issue of recycling solid waste generated during steel production as well as for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The comprehensive utilization project of steel slag through carbonization is a initiative by Baotou Steel that makes use of the latest research technologies from Columbia University in the United States to carry out comprehensive treatment of steel slag, ultimately producing products such as high-purity calcium carbonate and iron-containing materials. Among them, iron-containing materials are directly recycled as raw materials for iron production, while high-purity calcium carbonate can be used in various industries such as papermaking, plastics, coatings, and rubber. This reduces the need to extract and calcine limestone, as well as the logging of trees in the pulp production process. It helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the development of a circular, low-carbon economy. It is of great significance in addressing the issues related to the recycling of solid waste in steel production and the sequestration of carbon dioxide. Yu Wenjian, deputy general manager of Baogang Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Industry Company, explained that the implementation of this project represents a revolutionary and transformative approach to the disposal of solid waste in the traditional steel industry. It enables a perfect reaction between carbon dioxide and solid waste, resulting in the production of truly recyclable products – high-purity calcium carbonate and iron-containing materials – without any other solid waste or exhaust gases being generated or emitted, thus truly achieving the conversion of waste into valuable resources. ”Yu Wenjian said. The reporter learned that the total investment for the first phase of Baogang’s project for the comprehensive utilization of steel slag produced by carbonization methods is approximately 600 million yuan, and the project will be carried out in two phases. The first phase involves industrial-scale production based on the pilot tests conducted in the laboratory of Columbia University’s project team. According to current production data, one ton of steel slag can be used to sequester 0.21–0.4 tons of carbon dioxide simultaneously; the purity of the calcium carbonate produced is over 99%. Practical tests using this calcium carbonate in the manufacturing of PVC pipes have shown that such pipes possess low density, high strength, and good toughness. Phase 2 of the project – the demonstration industrialization project with an annual consumption of 100,000 tons of steel slag – is expected to come online at the beginning of next year. In other words, during the construction of phase one and stage two of this project, 100,000 tons of steel slag will be consumed per year, enabling the production of around 40,000 tons of high-purity calcium carbonate and approximately 70,000 tons of iron-containing materials. Yu Wenjian did some calculations for the journalists: by using this technology, 100,000 tons of solid waste can be utilized to produce 110,000 tons of products, and at the same time, over 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide gas can be absorbed.