Displaying items by tag: Government
Canada: The Nova Scotia provincial government has given permission for Lafarge Canada’s Brookfield plant to burn tyres for one year. Environment Minister Iain Rankin said that the results would be examined at the end of the pilot period.
“My decision is based on the science and evidence associated with this application as well as the public feedback received which helped to shape conditions of the approval,” said Rankin. “This pilot will confirm if the company can reduce current carbon emission levels at its Brookfield plant as the information provided in the application indicates.”
Terms of the pilot project include limiting tyre-derived fuel to 15% of total daily input and no more than 20t/day, forming a community liaison committee to keep residents informed of the project’s status and address their questions and to develop a complaints resolution plan.
Lafarge Canada will also be required to submit plans for related activities and apply for a temporary industrial approval to operate the pilot project. The required plans include: tyre storage and waste management; air dispersion modelling; continuous monitoring of emissions; stack testing before and after the pilot begins; and an emergency response if there is a malfunction of the kiln. The results of the pilot will be made public through a community liaison committee.
However, the plan has received criticism from the local community on environmental grounds. The local press has also questioned whether the provincial government is subsidising Lafarge Canada’s fuel costs as the region charges consumers recycling tariffs on goods such as tyres. A previous plan by the cement producer to burn tyres in the region in 2007 was blocked by the local government.
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.
New Zealand: Golden Bay Cement has announced plans with Waste Management and the government to process tyres at its plant in Portland. The move follows the acquisition by Waste Management of the country’s largest tyre recycling business in 2016. The company is investing in shredders with funding from the Ministry for the Environment. It plans to have a shredding capacity of 30,000t/yr in place in Auckland by October 2017 with a unit to become operational in the South Island in early 2018.
Spain: Cementos Cosmos has stopped exports from its Niebla cement plant due to an increase in the price of petcoke. The subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim has also implemented a Temporary Regulation of Employment from June 2017 to May 2018 that will enable it to suspend workers or reduce working hours, according to the Huelva Información newspaper. The cement producer says it is waiting for planning permission to install a dosing system for waste fuels that will cut it fuel bill. However, the local community has opposed attempts to use alternative waste fuels previously.
Ireland: An Bord Pleanála (ABP), a government planning body, will decide by 8 August 2017 on a planning appeal by Irish Cements about its proposed upgrade at its Limerick cement plant. The Euro10m upgrade includes the development of land to facilitate on site handling, storage and introduction of alternative fuels with conveyor kiln, storage tanks, uploading station, handling building, cooling tower and associated ancillary work. If the appeal is successful then the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will decide if the cement producer can have a licence to burn waste fuels at the site, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. Irish Cements has faced local opposition against its plans for the site.
UK: The Environmental Services Association has called for the UK planning system to be more closely aligned with the so-called Circular Economy. It has laid out a number of recommendations in a report entitled ‘Planning for a Circular Economy.’ In its report it outlines key aspects of the current planning system that it says can frustrate the waste industry.
“Many local authorities need to let go of the strict control culture that has prevailed in one form or another since the ‘landfill era’ and instead adopt a more responsive approach to planning for waste management that better recognises the variable and dynamic nature of the space in which our industry now operates. Our industry increasingly resembles that of any other logistics business with materials moved around as markets dictate,” commented ESA’s Policy Advisor Stephen Freeland. He added that few other sectors face the same planning and political obsession about the origin of material or commodities, and where these should be transported to, as the waste industry.
Trinidad & Tobago: Kazim Hosein, the minister of Local Government and Rural Development, is considering allowing the Trinidad Cement company to burn waste fuels at its cement plant. This follows a visit by Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon to the plant, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper. The cement producer has proposed burning waste fuels as part of an expansion plan.
Ireland: Limerick City and County Council has given permission for Irish Cement to co-process alternative fuels at its local cement plant. Permission has been granted subject to 16 conditions, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. The cement producer has been seeking a licence to use solid recovered waste and tyres at its plant but it has faced local opposition.
Lithuania: The Lithuanian Parliament Committee on Environment Protection is evaluating alternative fuels options at the Akmenes Cementas plant including refuse-derived fuel (RDF), industrial waste and sewage sludge. The cement producer has presented a Euro7m plan to install new equipment to allow it to use up to 150,000t/yr of waste fuels, according to the Lithuanian News Agency. It has also asked the government to ensure that its can use waste produced in Lithuania to cut its costs and complete internationally.
Ireland: Irish Cement has until the end of March 2017 to submit further information to the local government about its plans to upgrade its cement plant in Limerick to allow it to co-process alternative fuels. The company is waiting for planning permission for a 10-year licence to use solid recovered waste and tyres in cement production, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. However, the application has been delayed twice following opposition by local residents.
