“Hazardous Waste Environmental Management Guide Copper Smelting” will be removed from hazardous waste gypsum, at the same time, the neutralization residue by the enterprise to provide relevant testing further explanation of treatment. This move, on the one hand, to meet China’s increasingly stringent environmental requirements; On the other hand, it will promote the industry to improve the comprehensive utilization rate of resources and provide policy basis and support for the green development of the industry.

In recent years, in terms of low-carbon energy saving and comprehensive utilization of resources, copper smelting enterprises have implemented a lot of innovative means such as technological upgrading, fine management and so on to strengthen terminal by-product management, maximize the utilization of resources and standardize the management of hazardous wastes.

There are many kinds of by-products in copper smelting industry. Gypsum, for example, can be used in the cement industry at a lower price than natural gypsum; Application in the construction industry, according to different needs to prepare other building materials; Applied to agriculture, easy to improve soil; It is used in chemical industry to prepare chemical products such as calcium sulfate whisker, calcium carbonate and ammonium sulfate. The valuable metals contained in copper smelting tailings can be recycled. The neutralized slag treated by physical process can be widely used in cement manufacturing, industrial and civil construction industries, which can not only improve the quality of related products, but also reduce the energy consumption in the production process. Among them, gypsum does not contain any harmful substances, the enterprise also provided a lot of evidence and explanation. When the Ministry of Ecology and Environment consulted for this, relevant associations and scientific research institutions conducted research and verification. China Nonferrous Metal Industry Association provided explanations based on scientific research, and finally achieved success.

For a long time, the International Copper Industry Association and various stakeholders, actively explore the copper industry wastewater, waste gas, solid waste comprehensive utilization and other related technologies and management. Through a comprehensive analysis of the copper pyrosmelting process, the emission characteristics of solid waste pollutants are summarized. On the basis of sorting out the existing pollution prevention and control technologies, promising new methods and technologies are prospected, and advanced applicable technologies, measures and road maps suitable for the prevention and control of solid waste pollutants in copper smelting industry are proposed. It provides effective data support for China’s copper smelting industry to improve resource utilization rate and effectively prevent and control pollution emission, provides theoretical basis for actual industrial operation, and also provides reference for relevant departments to improve their work.

The International Copper Council will continue to leverage its strengths and collaborate with relevant industry associations to provide more support for the green and low-carbon development of China’s copper industry.