USA – Tyre burning plans at Lafarge Ravena, NY

Lafarge North America plans to burn tyres at its Ravena cement works with the aim to reduce its use of coal as thermal energy source and possibly cut emissions.

The plans outline the initial burning of tyres in one kiln in 2005. Retrofitting of the plant’s second kiln by the following year should enable the company to push up tyre disposal levels to 6-8m tyres annually. This would mean coal and other fuel consumption would be reduced by 20 per cent, leading to a seven per cent cut in production costs. As a result, the US$5m investment to modify the kilns and install required conveyor belts to feed the tyres could be recouped in three to four years through energy savings made.

Ravena would be Lafarge’s sixth North American works to burn tyres, a practice also carried out in 17 other Lafarge plants in Europe and Asia.