Vedanta Signs MoU with IMMT for Zero Waste

In any mineral based industry, disposal of waste is always an area of concern and by developing suitable technologies; wastes can be converted into resources. 

Vedanta Aluminium Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding with leading research institute of Orissa, Institute of Mineral and Materials Technology (IMMT) to utilize expertise available within the state and to  develop technology for recovering valuable materials from waste generated in Alumina and Aluminium  Industry. The MoU was signed by Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Chief Operating Officer of Vedanta Aluminium Limited and Prof. Barada Kanta Mishra, Director, IMMT on April 26, 2010 at Bhubaneswar. Dr. Srikant Sharma, Head of R&D Planning and other senior scientists of IMMT were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occassion, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Chief Operating Officer of Vedanta Aluminium informed that its Alumina Refinery has already implemented Zero Discharge System and our partnership with this leading research institute of International repute would help us in realizing our vision to make the refinery a Zero Waste Plant, which no plant has achieved till date across the globe . Red Mud generated from Alumina Refinery is having lot of valuable materials like Titanium, Vanadium, Iron, etc and Waste utilization would result result in conservation of natural resources as well reducing operating costs to a great extent, he added.

In any mineral based industry, disposal of waste is always an area of concern and by developing suitable technologies; wastes can be converted into resources. They incur cost of processing, generate no revenue and result in unsold material which becomes a concern for the environment and community.

"The partnership between Vedanta and IMMT would further strengthen the interface between industry and institutions,” said Prof. Baradakanta Mishra, Director, IMMT. This will not only help in improving environmental performances but also help in optimum utilization of the natural resources.

IMMT has already developed technologies like utilization of Red Mud in bricks/ tiles manufacturing, recovery of carbon value from Spent Pot lining and production of Pig Iron from Red Mud etc. The association with Vedanta will definitely be a bench mark as IMMT is planning to concentrate more research in Bauxite treatment as well as waste utilization as Orissa is one of the largest depositories of Bauxite Minerals having in excess of 1.5 billion tonnes, he said.

Vedanta Aluminium Limited would provide financial and other technological support and has presented a Cheque of Rs. 1.0 Crore towards corpus fund for various R&D projects. The Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology is a premier research centre of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research(CSIR),  New Delhi. The institute specializes in providing R&D support for process and product development with special emphasis on conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources.  It has been taking up R&D projects for all the leading mineral based industries in the country.