3 nickel mining companies will be tested of the utilization of slag smelters, namely Vale, IMIP (Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park), and Pomala Antam.
The government has been pushing for the slag (from the purification of minerals process in smelters operating throughout Indonesia) to be recycled into industrial raw materials. The downstream minerals from the main products to the by-products is intended to reduce the amount of waste. There are 17 million tons of slag from the processing and refining of nickel only.
Slag can be reproduced as building materials or road hardener, even as textile materials in several countries. Unfortunately, slag has only been treated as B3 waste only.
The effort to recycle slag is still constrained by regulations. Slag must be tested and obtained permission from KLHK (Kementerian Lingkungan dan Kehutanan-Ministry of Environment and Forestry) to ensure the slag is safe for recycling. The results of recycling the slag can be used by the company or the government, for example, to be used in road construction, building construction, and mine reclamation.
