Cemex UK has joined forces with SITA UK to produce all the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to fire its Rugby cement kiln.
SITA UK will build two recycling plants that will produce Cemex’s Climafuel brand of RDF from local residual household and business waste.
Under the terms of the deal, SITA UK will be responsible for building and operating the plants – one in Birmingham, and another on land adjacent to the Rugby cement plant. The processing will involve sorting and shredding of material.
Planning permission for both plants has already been approved and work on the Birmingham facility is expected to finish at the end of 2012. Construction at the Rugby plant is expected to start later this year and be finished by early 2014. The combined cost of the two plants is expected to be in the region of GBP25m.
Dan Panormo, Cemex’s renewable energy manager, said: “We are delighted that SITA UK are able to work with us in securing local waste and providing the facilities for the production of Climafuel. With the fuel coming from within a 30-mile radius of the cement plant from Birmingham and subsequently from Malpass Farm, it guarantees the environmental credentials of this alternative fuel.
“This new partnership will provide a secure and long-term supply of Climafuel while providing the local communities around Birmingham and Rugby with a positive solution to waste that would otherwise go to landfill.”
Currently, Cemex is permitted by the Environment Agency to derive around 65% of the fuel needed to heat its Rugby kiln (around 250,000t) from waste sources, although it is currently applying to increase this to 80%.
Cemex also has planning permission in place for a similar facility to be operated by WRF in Scunthorpe but currently sources RDF from a number of waste management firms across the country, which pay Cemex a gate fee to dispose of the material.
Meanwhile, Cemex UK has also invested in a new electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for one of its two cement kilns at its South Ferriby plant, Lincolnshire. The ESP unit will significantly cut the emissions of dust by 90%.
The precipitator represents an investment of GBP3.8m and is a bespoke system manufactured in the UK. It will extract dust from the cement kiln and has been installed on the plant's exhaust duct as exhaust gases pass from the kiln to the stack.
Plant Director, Philip Baynes-Clarke, comments The investment in the new precipitator is an important milestone for the South Ferriby plant and helps ensure the production of cement in the most environmentally-friendly way. I am pleased to report that this state of the art unit was successfully commissioned in early March and is performing especially well.
