A public exhibition is being held this week (11 February) in Peak Dale to outline Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement’s plans to increase the substitution of fossil fuels in their Tunstead cement plant to around 50 per cent.

Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement propose to achieve this by using Calfuel, a specially prepared blend of non-hazardous materials, such as paper, cardboard, plastics, textiles and wood chips, that cannot be recycled and mostly go to landfill.

Similar fuels are used successfully in power generation and cement manufacture in both the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement plan to replace some of their coal with Calfuel and are submitting an environmental permit application to the Environment Agency so they can carry out a trial later this year.
Alternative fuels such as tyre chips and meat and bone meal are already being used in their cement kiln and have resulted, since 2006, in a reduction of more than 30 per cent in the use of traditional fossil fuels.
‘We want to build on the success of our fuels programme,’ said Hasan Bobat, project leader for the company.

‘Using Calfuel will increase our replacement of fossil fuels to around 50 per cent and will bring the total reduction of cement kiln greenhouse gas emissions to 24 per cent. It will also benefit the wider environment by using a sustainable material that otherwise would have gone to landfill.’