LafargeHolcim's Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia, Canada, has begun burning 20tpd of scrap tyres to reduce its coal use and lower its carbon footprint.
"For every tonne of coal that we replace with scrap tyres, we will see a 30 per cent decrease in CO2 emissions," said Lafarge director of environmental affairs Robert Cumming.
"It also means that Nova Scotians have a way to use their own scrap tyres," said Mr Cumming. "So we’re making use of a local fuel source and taking scrap tyres away from local landfilling."
The company estimates it will burn nearly 400,000 scrap tyres a year. That equals half of the 800,000 tyres that are discarded in the province per year, which Mr Cumming says not only diverts tyres from landfills, but will cut its carbon emissions by 40 per cent from 1990 levels by the year 2030.
