Kemenperin Supports Circular Economy Concept for Iron Slag Production

JAKARTA – The Industry Ministry (Kemenperin) plans to step up efforts to implement a circular economy concept to help production of iron slags, as a way to fulfill the cement and construction industries’ needs for more raw material. 

Demand for iron slags in the global market managed to rise at the beginning of 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Kemenperin’s head of standardization and industry service policies (BSKJI) Doddy Rahadi, this can be attributed to the fact that construction activity around the world has not stopped.

“Because of this, we must recognize the importance of iron slags as they are important in helping the cement and construction industries support national construction projects,” he said in a written statement on Friday (26/3).

Highlighting the importance of the material, the Kemenperin publicly praised the work done by PT Krakatau Semen Indonesia (KSI), a joint enterprise between PT Krakatau Steel Tbk and PT Semen Indonesia, in processing granulated blast furnace slags into ground granulated blast furnace slags (GGBFS), with a production capacity of up to 690,000 tons per year.

Singapore remains KSI’s largest market, with 350,000 tons exported to the city-state per year. Meanwhile, other state-owned companies (BUMN) within the industry are currently exploring different markets for export.

“The GGBFS is being used as a cement substitute, or supplementary cementitious material (SCM), aimed at strengthening the durability of concrete intended for special construction needs,” Doddy said.

“Currently, the biggest market for these slags domestically is the cement and construction industries that use GGBFS as additional material in the production of Portland slag,” he added.

Recently, the Kemenperin’s BSKJI department issued an official Indonesian National Standard Certificate (SPPT SNI) to KSI as a way of further developing and empowering local industries.

The ministry also hopes that by issuing SPPT SNI certificates to iron slag production companies, they would be able to see more iron slags sold in bulk on the market. It would also answer any concerns by construction industry actors regarding the B3 waste management regulations, which state that a permit is needed to recycle iron slags.

“With the SPPT SNI certificates, the product is able to be sold easily on the market and can be used by the construction industry at a wider scale,” the head of the Kemenperin’s center for material and technical products (B4T) in Bandung Wibowo Dwi Hartoto said.

To ensure a greater domestic market share, Wibowo added that the iron slags must also be used in innovative ways to expand their usage capabilities. “The B4T is ready to help the local construction industry in using this product through innovative means,” he said.

The B4T is also providing a testing laboratory to support production and/or troubleshooting efforts, and hopes that the iron slags could be utilized diversely in the domestic market.