Environment Protection Comes to Iran's Petrochem Sector

EghtesadOnline: In line with its environmental policy, Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company in southwestern Khuzestan Province has started a project to collect and recycle all its wastewater in a single unit that will come online by March, the managing director said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۸۱۸

28 October 2019

“BIPC wastewater treatment plant, the largest sewage treatment center in the domestic petrochemical industry, has registered 53% progress,” Hamid Reza Rostami was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry news agency Shana.

“Bandar Imam Petrochemical Company is a leader in the field of environmental protection and has taken effective measures in this regard,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.

Environmental policy is aimed at balancing environmental protection and conservation of natural resources with other goals like producing affordable energy, boosting economic growth and creating jobs.

The new wastewater plant will have a daily capacity to treat 40,000 cubic meters of industrial effluent, which is about 80% of the wastewater produced at the sprawling complex.

BIPC has five affiliates namely, Ab Niroo, Basparan, Faravaresh, Kharazmi, Kimia. Currently, each company has its own wastewater treatment plant.

Since the quality of wastewater produced by the subsidiary companies differs, there are 21 pre-treatment or full treatment systems installed in different units with a total treatment capacity of 40,000 cubic meters a day.

With the new project, all the treatment operations will be concentrated in a single unit.

Industrial wastewater treatment covers the mechanisms and processes used to treat wastewater produced as a by-product of industrial or commercial activities. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater can be reused, or released to sewer or to surface waters in the environment.

“The company is the only one of its kind with an industrial waste landfill that is also used by other industries,” Shana quoted Rostami as saying.

The center has three waste burial areas for high-hazardous, hazardous and half-hazardous solid waste.

Effective Measures

The National Petrochemical Company along with other companies active in the petrochemical industry has started giving priority to the protection and conservation of the environment. Iran’s petrochemical companies have been ordered to uphold stringent environment protection measures or face consequences.

As part of a drive to help protect the environment and curb air pollution, petrochemical complexes and refining industries are gradually being equipped with modern online pollution control systems.

Unlike traditional lab systems that force technicians to be physically present in the factory, online data processing systems enable relevant monitoring bodies to measure and analyze the level of noxious waste, such as nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur at any moment and from long distances.

The government is considering new incentives to encourage petrochemical companies to function in a manner that can be dubbed as environmentally friendly -- a long shot but worth trying.

One incentive is that companies that reduce their carbon footprint would be exempted from pollution tax levied by the Department of Environment.

According to an amendment to the Tax Law of fiscal 2008-09, all petrochemical and refining units are deemed carbon emitters must pay 1% tax on sales.

The primary objective of imposing a carbon tax is to reduce the harmful CO2 levels, thereby curbing ating climate change and its dangerous impact on human health and the environment.