Holcim Argentina to set up household waste processing plant in Mendoza

Holcim (Argentina) SA will set up a household waste processing plant in Las Heras, Mendoza province, Argentina, to process waste into an alternative fuel for Holcim’s cement plants. The project represents an investment of around US$10m. Commissioning is expected in 2023.

Holcim currently uses on average 15 per cent alternative fuels to run its kilns in Argentina. However, in Mendoza, where Holcim has been co-processing disused tyres and industrial waste, that share falls to four per cent.

The new waste processing plant would support Holcim Argentina’s target to achieve a thermal substitution rate of 30-40 per cent in five years’ time.  The company already has a similar waste processing plant in Córdoba, which doubled capacity in 2022 and now processes some 100,000tpa of urban waste, which after being separated and crushed is used to replace gas and petcoke. Holcim Argentina CEO, Christian Dedeu, explained that the idea is to replicate the experience of Córdoba, starting with a first waste separation plant in Las Heras.