Recently, Craig Heidrich, CEO of the Ash Development Association of Australia (ADAA), and Claire Tubolets, CEO of the SmartCrete CRC sat down for a 'Clinker Chat' to discuss pathways to beneficiating coal ash and funding opportunities. You can watch the interview on YouTube.
The conversation revolved around recently announced NSW Government funding support which the ADAA have been advocating for many years to investigate potential of harvesting coal combustion products and change the narrative to a more positive value proposition for ash stored in repositories based on international developments.
Heidrich explained that the ADAA's goal is to work in partnership with Governments across Australia to explore ways in which industry can access and potentially harvest the materials in these repositories. For too long, there has been an extensive narrative around ash repositories as being of little to no value - a narrative that is inconsistent with circular economy principles.
Outlined in its Pathways Partnership Project, there are a number of stages involved including mapping current and future predicted resources to 2040; characterising materials in ash repositories; exploiting current and exploring the best available technologies in beneficiating practices - in particular those being undertaken internationally and pathways to utilisation.
Mr Heidrich said an important route is to have an international symposium and workshops with international speakers to share their story about how they are 'beneficiating' coal ash - turning them into new value-added products. Exploring these pathways, the ADAA and its members can challenge the narrative that ash repositories are of little value and uncover new ways in which they can be beneficiated.
Mr Heidrich stressed that whilst funding is helpful, our members and other industry partners which will help to set up the initial investigation and lay the groundwork for looking at the opportunities are critical. "It's going to be a wonderful couple of years ahead," Heidrich concluded. With this new funding support, the ADAA is poised to make some exciting discoveries about the potential for ash repositories that could change the way we think about these materials forever.
To watch Craig’s chat with Smartcrete CRC, visit the link here.