Being
a process industry that consumes & generates considerable
amounts of fine sized raw materials, Tata Sponge requires to manage
its waste products proficiently in terms of methodical disposal
and value addition wherever possible. According to conservative
estimates, approx 4 million tons of ash is being released
into the atmosphere annually by various industries all over
the country. The fly ash pollutes the air as a thick mass,
which radiates infra-red rays from the sun to the earth
thereby contributing to global warming.
The most efficient, eco-friendly & viable proposition for the effective disposal of fly ash has proven to be its usage as a raw material for the manufacture of high quality construction bricks. This requires compression of fly ash & sand with lime & gypsum in a brick making press that forms the mixture into bricks in moulds, in a cold process. These are then cured by water sprinkling and hardened for sale. Unlike conventional clay bricks, this process does not require the burning of any fossil fuel for baking, nor does it use natural soil obtained by ground excavations, a practice which has already come under severe criticism from environmentalists thus forcing the government to enact various regulations against the discriminate use of mud/ clay.
Continuing its endeavor of being a good citizen, with a systematic and uncompromising attitude towards preservation of our ecosystem, Tata Sponge, along with its various other measures undertaken to manage waste, has installed an automatic brick making machine with a production capacity of 1000 bricks per hour. The brick plant, registered as Jeet Fly Ash Products by the Vidya Shakti Niyas, was inaugurated by the District Collector, Shri D.G. Tripathy on 11th June ’03. In his speech to those present, he emphasized on the need to balance industrial growth with care for the ecosystem and expressed his concern over the harm being caused to the flora & faunaof the area by mini sponge iron plants operating in the district. He appreciated the endeavors being made by Tata Sponge towards conservation of the environment and in particular, hailed the installation of the brick machine as a fool proof solution to the perpetual problem of flyash disposal.
The strength of these bricks is four times greater than that of conventional clay bricks while the shape is superior & can vary as per the moulds used for their manufacture. Though flyash bricks weigh a little more than conventional bricks, the wall-to-wall weight is considerably reduced by the use of flyash bricks since the need for cement plastering of walls is reduced substantially.
As a mark of charity, the management of the brick unit has been given by Tata Sponge to the Vidya Shakty Niyas and the entire profits earned from this unit will be used by Vidya Shakti Niyas for charity & for community development work. Vidya Shakti has already seen an overwhelming demand for the supply of these bricks by nearby consumers. However, as per the arrangements, the company would be given half the production for meeting its own in-house requirements.