The flyash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Plant brought to public attention the potential problems with surface disposal of fly ash and other mineral wastes into landfills around the world. Technologies are required that can minimize and/or eliminate mineral wastes that are going into landfills and recycle these wastes into something useful for society. Such a green technology currently exists that would be ideal for recycling mineral wastes.
A company called Golden Bear Ceramics Company in California (
http://www.goldenbearceramics.com/) has developed a technolgy that offers such a solution. It is able to use a variety of mineral wastes such as fly ash, metal mine tailings, aggregate fines from rock quarries, ash from biomass plants, ash from co-generation plants, etc. that normally are disposed of in landfills. The company has a process that will recycle this material and make high quality stone and ceramics floor tile, wall cladding, and roof tile.
About 80% of the tile used in the U.S. is imported from overseas. This technology would allow tile to be produced in the U.S. Plants would be built witin 500 miles of their market, greatly reducing transportation costs and the air emissions associated with transportation. The techology also uses less energy than a conventional ceramics plant, reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By using mineral wastes from other manufacturing processes, the need to mine clay material for conventional ceramics or mine rock from quarries for tiles is eliminated.
Like many new technologiest that are developing in the green world, Golden Bear Ceramics is trying to commercialize the technology. Your support of the technology to help move its development ahead is important. In particular, use of this technology could have prevented the Tennessee Valley Authority fly ash spill and it is important fpr the EPA, TVA, and others know of its existance and support its development.
