Equiom has announced it will invest EUR8m in its plant in Lumbres, France. The sum represents the largest investment in the works for 15 years, according to Nord Eclair.

Last year, improvements were made on the dust filters of the facility, which, along with two other plants, recently came under ownership of Ireland-based CRH. The project enabled the plant to meet European environment standards.

The current spate of work centres around a new cooler. This will enable heat recovery from the cooler, which is expected to increase its output by eight per cent, while energy consumption is set to fall by five per cent and power demand by 20 per cent. As a result, the new cooler will reduce CO2 emissions by 8200tpa.