Cement Plants Burning Garbage... 56% Exceeded Hazardous Substance Limits

[Anchor]

Domestic cement plants are using various types of waste as fuel for cement production. While the companies' self-measurements showed no issues with hazardous substance emissions, government investigation results told a different story.

Climate and Environment Specialist Reporter Jang Se-man reports.

[Reporter]

Trucks line up in front of a cement plant.

They are loaded with various types of waste brought from all over the country, such as waste plastics and waste tires.

These are used as a substitute for bituminous coal, serving as both fuel and raw material to manufacture cement.

Since it was permitted to promote waste recycling, the amount of waste used has surged over the past decade or so. As cement companies reduce bituminous coal imports while actually getting paid to process waste, it has become a major source of revenue for the industry.

Hazardous substance emission levels have been measured and reported by the companies themselves.

This is the so-called self-measurement method.

[Lim Chang-soon / Jecheon Cement Residents Representative: They say there are no problems with self-measurements. They claim it is always within the standard range. Even if they release the data, which would be nice, they report it directly to the Ministry of Environment and do not share it with us.]

Amid growing backlash from nearby residents, the government launched its first commissioned study.

The investigation revealed that total hydrocarbons exceeded legal limits at 10 out of 18 smokestacks across domestic cement plants.

Some locations exceeded the limit by more than four times.

Total hydrocarbons are a group of compounds combining carbon and hydrogen, which include hazardous substances like benzene and toluene, making them subject to strict regulations.

This contradicts the self-measurement results that claimed limits were not exceeded.

[Lee Yong-woo / National Assembly Climate and Environment Committee Member (Democratic Party): Because self-measurements are often conducted based on specific points in time, it is difficult to accurately capture emissions that are large in volume and high in volatility.]

Because waste has a lower calorific value compared to bituminous coal, it is estimated to cause incomplete combustion, thereby emitting more total hydrocarbons.

[Youkyung / Professor of Environmental Engineering at Kwangwoon University: During seasons like summer, ozone warnings are frequently issued, and hydrocarbons can be understood as pollutants that directly impact those phenomena.]

Based on the results of this investigation, the government has decided to pursue measures where government agencies directly manage total hydrocarbon measurements instead of leaving them to cement companies.

(Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung, VJ: Shin So-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.