CBB and Ambipar Environment’s general managers announced the implementation of a project that will enable the cement producer to recover energy from non-recyclable waste at CBB’s Teno plant in Curicó, Maule Region, Chile.

The Chilean cement producer will be investing US$5m in the two-phase project. The first stage, which represents an investment of US3m will see the construction of a waste reception system, screening, feed belt to the preheater and equipment for dosing the alternative fuel that will be injected into the calciner. In the second stage three warehouses with an automatic feeding system will be built.

The project, which is expected to start in 2024, is in line with the sustainability targets of the CBB Group, explained its Corporate General Manager, Enrique Elsaca Hirmas. “We are making an investment of US$5m in this project, which will allow us to value around 36,000t of non-recyclable inorganic waste per year, which will be used as fuel in the cement production process, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.”

Matías Lagos, corporate general manager of circular economy company Ambipar Environment, said: "Our purpose is to be a strategic partner in meeting the sustainability challenges of various industries, including the cement industry. This alliance with Cementos Bío Bío is a tremendous contribution, since it makes it possible to replace fossil fuels and, at the same time, favors the recovery of the non-recyclable fraction of waste, significantly mitigating CO2 emissions in the cement production process.”

Benedicto Morales, deputy manager of the CBB cement plant in Teno, highlighted: "With this project we want to reach 30 per cent thermal substitution through the consumption of CDR, while increasing the percentage of liquid alternative fuels (CAL, from the mining and various industries) and “pyrolysis” (fuel from tyres) to reach 50 per cent use of this type of fuel.”

At present, CBB Group, through CBB Cales, uses more than 20,000l of liquid alternative fuel from residual oils from large-scale mining annually at its Antofagasta and Copiapó plants.