Kenya: Bamburi Cement commissions a new baghouse
Lafarge's Bamburi Cement has commissioned a KES540m kiln baghouse to eliminate dust emissions and save energy during production. This is part of the group’s Environmental Sustainability Ambitions 2012, aimed at reducing dust emissions by 30 per cent by the end of 2012, as it moves towards the overall goal of reaching the required global standards of below 50mg/Nm3.
Commissioning the new technology Dr Ayub Macharia, director, applauded the investment saying it is in conformity to NEMA and international guidelines. The kiln ensures proper management and disposal of waste tyres, ensuring public health and safety of citizens.
“We laud the management of Bamburi Cement for taking the lead in this important area and believe that the investment in this new technology will go a long way in ensuring compliance to global environmental standards.’’ said Dr Macharia. One of the key initiatives is the tyre waste management that is vital in eliminating open tyre burning that causes air pollution. Dr Macharia said Bamburi Cement kiln is the only NEMA approved facility dedicated to waste tyre burning in Kenya.
Dr Macharia called upon other manufacturing companies to follow suit in ensuring that their plants were environmentally compliant.
“Companies like Bamburi Cement have invested in environmental sustainability programmes that will be important in achieving the already stated goals for the Kyoto protocol of mitigating the negative climatic changes that are being experienced across the world.
“In the spirit of continuous improvement, we will continue to commit ourselves, and as part of the Lafarge Group’s Sustainability Ambitions 2020; to have responsible and environmentally-friendly operations as we ensure the health and safety of our employees and the communities around here," said Mr Peter Gibendi, the Mombasa plant manager.
The company has also established an Industrial Ecology department whose main responsibility is the development, management and seeking out alternative energy sources for the company to reduce dependency on electricity and heavy fuel oils.
