DAP - Vinachem JSC: Ensuring Sustainable Environment

 

According to the complex DAP fertiliser production process, gypsum (chemical formula: CaSO₄.2H₂O) is a solid waste discharged from nutrient extraction (phosphorus) found in apatite ores. This is a common solid waste, free of hazardous substances. To deal with gypsum residues, DAP - Vinachem Joint Stock Company has carried out the following measures.

One: Designing, building gypsum dumpsites; collecting water from dumpsites to production plants to harvest P₂O₅ nutrient balances and cut water fees.

Two: To prevent risks from storms, tides and rising sea level, DAP invested VND3.1 billion to reinforce and maintain river embankments and impoundment lakes. In 2014, the company invested VND9.33 billion to build embankments and plant trees around gypsum dumpsites. The dike is measured 6 metres in height and 16 metres in width. The dyke is reinforced by a HDPE film.

 

Moreover, at present, Tan Vu - Lach Huyen traffic route has been built, encircling DAP regulatory lake and stretching along the dyke. Hence, the entire dyke of the regulatory lake and gypsum dumpsite of DAP will not be affected directly by the sea where there are the risk of spills, dyke collapse, rainstorm, storm and rising sea level.

 

Three: Processing and recycling gypsum residues into artificial gypsum to be used as an additive for cement and building material production. The company contributed its capital to establish Dinh Vu Gypsum Joint Stock Company to build processing a gypsum plant residue processing plant to produce artificial additive for cement. To date, the first production line of the gypsum processing plant was put into operation (the commissioning was checked by Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam). We hope that, with the active support of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Hai Phong City People's Committee, the artificial gypsum residue processing plant invested by Dinh Vu Gypsum Joint Stock was successful.

 

Being aware of responsibility and importance of every company in environmental protection, DAP - Vinachem Company equipped modern production lines powered by advanced technologies imported from the United States and Europe to have low emission coefficients. According to regular and periodic monitoring results, environmental parameters of the company are much lower than the allowed threshold of the National Technical Regulation on Environment (NTR). For example, SO₂ emissions parameters at the sulphuric acid plant are controlled automatically. Monitoring results show 85 - 257 mg/Nm³ (Regulatory allowed limit is 500 mg/Nm³).

DAP - Vinachem Company is committed to relentlessly investing in both human resources and material resources for environmental protection; actively researching and applying scientific and technical progress to recovery, recycling and reuse of waste in order to reduce emissions; better controlling environmental parameters, planting more trees to increase green space in and outside the factory campus; rearing birds and fish in the company’s premises to provide a natural indicator of the level of environmental friendliness in production activities.

 

Since beginning its operations, the company has paid special attention to recruiting and training human resources, especially engineers and technicians, to operate and master automated technological chains like DAP compound fertiliser production line. During its process of construction and operation, the company has sent many technical delegations to further training courses in the country and foreign nations to acquire new know-how and experience. In recent years, the company has formed a professional workforce with high qualifications and reasonable ages to ensure continuity of staff generations. Every year, the company establishes and carries out training and capacity building courses for managerial staffs, regularly organises professional training courses to raise working skills for the technical workforce. So far, the experienced and expert leadership of the company ensures consistency in operating strategies, and production and business orientations.

 

Law 71/2014/QH13 took effect on January 1, 2015. Accordingly, fertiliser was moved from the list of goods subject to 5 percent VAT to the list of goods not subject to VAT. Thus, the Company will not be refunded VAT when it purchases input materials and fuels, meaning that production costs will increase. As calculated, in 2015, production costs will be increased by VND228 billion as DAP prices estimated by Vinachem Group rise 7.8 percent. Whereas the domestic fertiliser market is yet to recover, agricultural product prices fall sharply on weakening purchasing power. Fertiliser inventory pressures are thus rising. Ensuring effective production and business, maintaining employment and ensure stable incomes for 720 employees is a very difficult task. In 2015, the company targets to produce 311,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser, fetch nearly VND3 trillion of revenue, and pay average monthly employee salaries of VND7.5 - 7.8 million in 2015.

 

Currently, legal regulations primarily focus on prohibitions in waste management rather than encouragement and support for waste and scrap recycling and processing. In Vietnam, thermal power, fertiliser and chemical industries consume tens of millions of tonnes of coal a year and discharge tens of millions of tonnes of ash, slag and gypsum into the environment. Together with that, tremendous pressures on widening waste dumpsites intensify. Meanwhile, cement and building material construction factories, roads and irrigation systems have a great demand for plaster, ash and slag. However, Vietnam has to spend a huge sum of money to import gypsum from foreign countries like Thailand, China, Laos and Oman to feed their cement and building material production plants.

 

The Prime Minister issued Decision 1696/QD-TTg dated September 23, 2014 on a number of solutions to handling ash, slag and gypsum from thermal power plants and chemical fertiliser plants to manufacture building materials. This is an important legal basis for implementing solutions and plans for handling and using ash, slag and gypsum to produce building materials to facilitate sustainable and environment-friendly development of power, chemical and fertiliser plants. However, to realise the Government's above policy, State agencies need to study and create specific policy mechanisms to reduce cumbersome regulations and procedures for businesses involved in transporting, receiving, processing and using ash, slag and gypsum to reduce social engagement into these areas.