Cement News tagged: Environmental
Belgium: Lixhe plant funded for carbon capture
HeidelbergCement is to start a project capturing CO 2 at its Lixhe plant in Belgium. The five-year project is being led by the Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement consortium, which includes the Australian technology company Calix, HeidelbergCement, and other lime and cement producers, says Aggregate Research. The project, which has been granted US$13m in EU funds, calls for the const...
France: Saint-Pierre-la-Cour plant to raise alternative fuel usage
Lafarge is to increase its alternative fuel usage at Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, the biggest cement plant in France, reports Aggregate Research. The replacement rate of fossil fuels currently used could reach 83 per cent thanks to a new shredded solid waste recovery workshop, which was inaugurated in March 2016. Lafarge aims to be less dependent on imported products and promote local industry. In ...
USA: Essroc cited for 10 health violations
The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited through its Cleveland Area Office Essroc Cement Corporation for one repeated and 10 serious safety and health violations, reported OSHA. The cement producer, part of the Italcementi Group, now faces US$92,000 in federal fines for alleged hazards at its Middlebranch facility, according to OSHA. Workers ...
Myanmar: Lwin Mountain Cement feasibility study halted
The Karen National Union (KNU) has suspended the feasibility study for the Lwin Mountain Cement factory being carried out by the Phyu Min Tun Company, near Min Lwin Mountain, in Thaton Township, Mon State, Myanmar. The site is regarded as a sacred site to local villagers and while the KNU had originally given approval for the study it has now changed its mind after the company failed to get...
Irish Cement: Limerick plant to cut alternative fuel usage
Irish Cement is putting forward new proposals to reduce the amount of alternative fuels by half to 90,000t, at its facility in Mungret, Ireland. It comes after a public outcry against the original proposals to burn tyres and other materials at the Limerick plant. Irish Cement had announced it is to invest EUR10m at the plant to replace the use of fossil fuels at its plant, in a move which wi...
USA: Essroc Martinsbrug to tighten up dust emissions control
Essroc officials said in a statement that it will implement strict dust-control improvements over the next 60 days as part of ongoing environmental efforts, and has already made investments to repair equipment. Essroc recently agreed to pay a US$38,400 penalty for air-pollution violations, which triggered several complaints last year from nearby residents. Essroc will be required to perform ...
USA: Ravena plant investigated for slurry spillage
Officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration investigated a spill Tuesday at the Lafarge cement plant on Route 9W of liquid slurry used in the production of cement, according to local press. The spill happened Tuesday morning, said Robin DeCarlo, head of corporate communications for LafargeHolcim in the US. She said th...
Ireland: cement firms make windfall profits from ETS permits
CRH, Lagan Cement and Quinn Cement have together made EUR128m (US$145m) through the sale of permits under the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). On Sunday, the Irish Independent reported that the three firms were allocated credits on the basis of a prediction that demand would rise by 30 per cent between 2007 and 2012. The impact of the financial crisis instead caused demand to drop by ove...
Ecuador: Unacem recognised as eco-efficient
Peruvian cement producer Union Andina de Cementos (Unacem), which resulted from the merger of Cementos Lima and Cementos Andino and its Ecuadorian operations of Lafarge and Selvalegre, was acknowledged as an eco-efficient business by Ecuador's Ministry for the Environment late in 2015. To achieve such an acknowledgment businesses have to submit four cases over a period of less than two years...
Cemex paves Egypt's first concrete highway
Cemex in Egypt contributed to the paving of Egypt’s first concrete highway. The approximately 22-mile (35km) road connects Cairo, the country’s capital, with the seaport city of Suez, two of the nation’s most important economic centres. Cemex supplied 130,000m 3 of concrete for the Cairo-Suez highway. This concrete paving solution offers this country a number of advantages over traditional ...
Colombia: Cementos Argos will process 2.5m tyres at its Bogotá plant
Following an agreement with the local government of Bogotá, Colombian cement manufacturer Cementos Argos will recycle 2.5m used car tyres to fuel its cement production. According to the president of Cementos Argos, Juan Esteban Calle, the company's Planta Rioclaro factory is capable of processing 20,000tpa of tyres, which amounts to 1.5m units. Calle also added that Cementos Argos is wi...
Protestors seek talks with President over PT Semen Indonesia's Rembang plant
PT Semen Indonesia was targeted by nine women who protested against the development of its new cement plant in their hometown in Rembang, Central Java. The public rally was held in front of the Presidential Palace on Tuesday from local residents who demanded to meet the President over disputed factory. The protesters expressed their concerns over potential environmental damage, saying that t...
USA: Montana City cement plant wins energy award
Ash Grove Cement Co's Montana City plant has won top honours in the annual "Ash Grove Energy Management (AGem) Outstanding Plant of the Year" competition. “Our team is honoured to win the AGem award,” said Dick Johnson, Montana City plant manager. “This recognition is possible because all our employees are committed to identifying and incorporating ways to conserve fuel and electricity.” An...
Spain: LafargeHolcim to seek different quarry area for Sagunto
Teresa Garcia, environment councillor for the town of Sagunto, Spain, is advising LafargeHolcim to “consider other options” for a new quarry as the coveted area in Pinyal is “an important forest area and head of basin that must be protected.” She also referred to the Valencia Territorial Strategy to support her decision. The original decision, signed in 2009, gave the company the option to o...
OCL invests in West Bengal's first solar power plant
OCL India, part of the Dalmia Bharat Group, has inaugurated West Bengal’s first and largest solar power plant. The 5.5MW photovoltaic plant will deliver power to its grinding unit at Godapiasal Industrial Park in Pashim Medinipore. "The solar plant we inaugurated today would generate approximately 8.25mkWh of energy per annum and will be the first and largest solar power plant in the state ...
Cement Association of Canada registers CSA Group's first EPD
CSA Group, a leading global provider of standards development and testing and certification services, has had its first environmental product declaration (EPD) registered by the Cement Association of Canada for general use (GU) and portland-limestone (GUL) cements. EPDs provide a standard way to communicate the environmental impact of available products and as such are an important part of t...