Displaying items by tag: Geocycle

Argentina: Geocycle Argentina has signed a framework agreement with the Ministry of Environment to co-process tyres at Holcim Argentina’s Capdeville cement plant in Las Heras. The arrangement is also intended to minimise population’s levels of the Aedes aegypti or yellow fever mosquito, according to MDZ Online. Improper disposal of tyres and the subsequent accumulation of water can lead to higher breeding levels of the mosquito. The insect is a vector in the transmission of the Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses.

Russia: LafargeHolcim Russia has won a Change Management Visionary award for its co-processing activities at its Ferzikovo cement plant in Kaluga. The company says it is the only business licensed to co-process waste by the Russian government. The Geocycle operation at the unit processed around 26,000t of solid municipal waste in 2017 sourced from the Kaluga and Moscow regions. The plant processed 1000t/month of plastic packaging waste in 2017 and this is expected to rise to 2000t/month in 2018. The company says that its treatment is aligned with European Union waste treatment principles.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s global waste management business, Geocycle, treated 10Mt of waste in 2017, an increase of 13% year-on-year from 2016. It co-processed all types of waste in cement kilns including solid shredded waste from industrial and municipal origin, spent solvents, used tires, waste oils, contaminated soils, industrial and sewage sludges, as well as demolition waste.

“At LafargeHolcim we offer solutions which facilitate the simultaneous recycling and recovery of waste. We have ambitious plans to continue investing in all parts of the world in order to bring the most advanced technology and solutions to our partners and play a role in solving the global waste problem,” said Jan Jenisch, the chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.

In Europe and North America, the main growth area for LafargeHolcim’s global waste management business was industrial waste, while in Africa more biomass waste such as rice and coffee husks were treated. The strongest growth rates for municipal solid waste (MSW) were seen in Asia and Latin America, where waste infrastructures are still developing and municipalities continue to seek more sustainable solutions for the growing volume of household waste.

In 2017 LafargeHolcim built three new major waste treatment facilities: Kujawy in Poland, El Sokhna in Egypt and Oum Azza in Morocco. It said that Oum Azza is the first waste pre-processing platform for MSW in the Middle East and Africa.

Bulgaria: Holcim Bulgaria’s Bell Ivor cement plant will increase its co-processing rate of municipal solid waste to 100,000t/yr in 2018. The plant has purchased new equipment to increase its waste processing capacity and enable it to co-process bigger municipal solid waste volumes. Geocycle Bulgaria, a waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, and the cement plant source waste from a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant near Sofia.

Canada: Lafarge Canada, University of Calgary, Queen’s University, and Pembina Institute have started a study on the environmental benefits of introducing lower carbon fuels at the Exshaw Cement Plant in Alberta. Eight lower carbon fuels will be researched, including construction renovation and demolition waste, non-recyclable plastic, carpets and textiles, shingles, treated wood products, wood products, rubber and tyre-derived fuels. These sources of fuel have been successfully used at other LafargeHolcim cement plants in Canada.

“Lab simulations, environmental studies, economics and logistics reviews are already underway. All research will be finalised by December 2019 with regular updates provided to the neighbouring communities via a Public Advisory Committee,” said Jim Bachmann, the plant manager of Exshaw .

Additional research by the partners will measure the environmental components associated with the sourcing, processing and full-scale commercial operation of each lower carbon fuel compared to fossil fuels. The project will also measure the benefits of diverting materials from landfills and determine optimal points in the cement manufacturing process to inject each fuel.

In addition to Lafarge’s support, research funding is being provided by Alberta Innovates, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Emissions Reduction Alberta and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. It includes research by Millennium EMS Solutions Ltd., Geocycle, and WSP Global Inc.

As part of its 2030 Sustainability Plan, LafargeHolcim aims to replace 30 - 50% of fossil fuel use at its Canadian cement plants with lower carbon fuels by 2020.

Bangladesh: LafargeHolcim has launched local operations of its waste management company Geocycle to support LafargeHolcim Bangladesh. The cement producer said it was managing 900t of industrial waste in its Chhatak plant, according to the Financial Express. Geocycle is currently offered in 50 countries all over the world under LafargeHolcim Group.

UK: Geocycle, the industrial and municipal waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, has launched its UK operations. The company supports co-processing alternative fuels at cement plants.

“Organisations in the UK are increasingly adopting sustainable business practices, and co-processing provides a practical, cost-effective and environmentally-preferred option to landfills. We’re extremely excited to have launched Geocycle in the UK. With operations in Cauldon, Staffordshire and Cookstown, Northern Ireland in the UK and an extensive global network, we look forward to extending our offer to environmentally-responsible companies,” said Michael Awanayah, General Manager of Geocycle UK.

Mexico: Geocycle operations based in Colima and Veracruz have received the ‘Environmental Excellence 2017’ award given by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) through the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA). The award is the maximum recognition granted by PROFEPA to companies that demonstrate continuous improvement in their ecological performance, a commitment to environmental preservation and social responsibility with their surroundings.

"At Geocycle Mexico we have an on-going commitment to sustainable development, not only with our co-processing solution for industrial waste management, but also in our daily operations. We are aligned to a global vision, with strict levels to reduce and control our carbon footprint, and proud to say that as a company we are contributing to a better future," said Miguel Ladron de Guevara, director of Geocycle Mexico.

Geocycle, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, supports its parent company’s alternative fuels strategy around the world. LafargeHolcim runs cement plants at Orizaba in Veracruz and Tecoman in Colima.

Uganda: Geocycle has officially launched its presence in Uganda. The waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim will collect and burn waste fuels in the kilns of local cement producer Hima Cement, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper. At present Geocycle coordinates the management and use of agricultural waste fuels for Hima Cement, including coffee husks, rice husks, bagasse, palm kernels and sawdust. It has also started working with the Fort Portal Municipality to source municipal waste streams.

Sri Lanka: Geocycle Sri Lanka has rebranded as Insee Ecocycle following the acquisition of Holcim Lanka by Thailand’s Siam City Cement. Before the takeover Geocycle pioneered the waste management industry in Sri Lanka, serving over 400 customers as a solution provider alternative fuels and eliminating over 500,000Mt of industrial waste over the past 14 years, according to the Daily Financial Times. Operations including co-processing of alternative fuels will continue at Insee Cement’s plant at Puttalam.