Requirements for using unburnt building materials

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai directed the establishment of inspection teams and urged localities to produce and use unburnt construction materials to replace traditional materials that currently cause land loss and environmental pollution.

This is one of the conclusions at the meeting on the morning of March 18 on the implementation of the Program for developing non-fired construction materials according to theDecision 567/QD-TTgandDirective No. 10/CT-TTgof the Prime Minister.

The success rate is quite good but there are still many concerns.

According to calculations, the demand for construction materials (VLXD) nationwide is currently about 24 billion bricks/year, and about 33 billion bricks by 2020. To produce 1 billion burnt bricks, it is necessary to consume 1.5 million m3 of clay (equivalent to 75 hectares of land mined at a depth of 2m), 150,000 tons of coal and emit 0.57 million tons of CO2 into the environment.

While countries in the region have a usage rate of 70-80%, our country only reaches approximately 30% of unburnt construction materials.

Faced with this situation, the Prime Minister issued Decision 567 and Directive No. 10 to strengthen the implementation of the program of production and use of unburnt construction materials and limit the production and use of burnt clay bricks.

Production of unburnt bricks. Illustration: internet

After 5 years of implementation, the whole country now has 1,500 production lines with a capacity of 7 million bricks/year and more than 100 production lines of aggregate cement bricks with a capacity of 7-40 million bricks/year. The total production capacity of aggregate cement bricks is about 5.2 billion bricks/year.

In addition, there are about 12 projects with a total capacity of 1.3 billion concrete bricks, 17 foam concrete production facilities with a total capacity of 120 million bricks/year. The quantity of gypsum wall panels, 3D panels, split stones, silicate bricks, etc. is insignificant.

Thus, the development of production and use of unburnt construction materials to replace burnt clay bricks has exceeded the total capacity target of 20-25%. The proportion of lightweight bricks also reached 21% of the set target.

However, at the meeting, managers expressed concerns about the possibility of further implementation of this policy.

Specifically, cement-based bricks are in a difficult situation to sell due to their monotonous designs, large and heavy weight, and uncompetitive prices. Light construction materials are even less consumed and production is only at 20-30% of capacity.

Up to now, many places as well as many investors, design consultants, contractors or consumers have not really paid attention to unburnt materials. There are localities that have available unburnt materials but still have documents requesting to postpone the target of using this material. Some headquarters and civil works do not use unburnt construction materials according to regulations.

Feedback from investment enterprises also shows that many lightweight concrete factories were established at a time when real estate and construction were sluggish, so production encountered difficulties and incentives according to regulations were not fully implemented.

Promote communication on the use of unburnt construction materials

Faced with this situation, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai requested to focus on information and propaganda to change awareness so that agencies, localities, businesses and society can see the benefits of using unburnt construction materials.

The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Construction to organize inspection teams to implement Directive 10 and Circular 09, and resolutely and strictly handle cases of non-compliance with the use of unburnt construction materials.

At the same time, urge localities to develop a roadmap to eliminate manual brick kilns, improve fossil fuel-using ring kilns, etc.

Agencies also need to coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to research and deploy production technology and effectively use unburnt construction materials, and have mechanisms and policies to support producers.

According to chinhphu.vn