Displaying items by tag: Philippines

Philippines: Republic Cement is supporting efforts to remove plastic pollution from the sea by co-processing the waste in its cement production. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the cement producer has partnered with plastic waste collector Pure Oceans to take delivery of shipments cleaned up from off the coasts of Batangas and Davao.

Republic Cement chief executive officer Roman Menz said "Republic Cement is proud to partner with organisations such as Pure Oceans. Their deep commitment towards safeguarding the environment, while making significant contributions to the Philippine plastic waste crisis, is an inspiration for us to continue doing what we do in order to make a tangible impact on our communities, towards building a greener and stronger republic."

Through its partnerships with local fishing communities, Pure Oceans diverted 1.93m bags of plastic waste over the three years prior to the start of October 2022.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has signed a deal to receive 6.5t/yr of shredded waste from Bunawan municipality’s Panacan barangay for co-processing as alternative fuel (AF) in its cement production. SeeNews has reported that Holcim’s waste management subsidiary GeoCycle will process the AF. The partners aim to increase the volume of deliveries in future.

Davao cement plant manager Sam Manlosa said, “We are proud to provide our host barangay Panacan a sustainable waste management solution and thankful for their trust. We hope this partnership will further expand to other communities and the entire city of Davao so we can be a stronger partner in its sustainable progress.”

Panacan is the 28th community throughout the Philippines to enter into a waste management partnership with Holcim Philippines, and its 18th new partner in 2022. In August 2022, the company secured deliveries of waste collected in Bulacan province’s Binangonan, Cainta and Taytay municipalities in Rizal province for co-processing at its Bulacan cement plant.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines says that its waste management partner Geocycle processed 200,000t of biomass and industrial and municipal waste into alternative fuels (AF) and raw materials for use in its cement production in 2021.Global Cement previously reported that Holcim Philippines co-processed 100,000t of AF in 2020. The company is targeting 70% AF substitution in all of its cement production.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines and its waste management subsidiary Geocycle have together inaugurated a waste processing plant and alternative fuels (AF) storage facility at the former’s Bulacan cement plant. The facilities consist of municipal solid waste (MSW) shredding equipment and a 5400m² warehouse. The installation is part of a US$2.41m investment by Holcim Philippines in the Bulacan plant, aimed at reducing its CO₂ footprint and increasing the circularity of its operations. The plant will produce its AF from MSW from the Boac municipality.

President and CEO Horia Adrian said “This initiative is part of our bigger commitment to make our operations more sustainable. These facilities will further reduce our carbon footprint and energy costs, while providing our partners with a safe and environmentally sound waste management option though our co-processing technology. We are excited to continue these projects to help us get closer to our long-term ambition of using 70% AF in cement production, instead of coal."

Philippines: Holcim Philippines, part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim, substituted 100,000t of refuse-derived fuel in its cement plants’ fuel mix in 2020. The Business World newspaper has reported that the figure represents a 41% year-on-year decrease from 170,000t in 2019. That year, the producer recorded 38 days of zero coal use. The company said that the reason for the decline was supply chain disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines plans to invest US$2.5m on increasing its alternative fuels use until 2022. The subsidiary of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim says it will spend the money on installing new equipment and improving storage and feeding facilities at its Bulacan cement plant in Barangay, Norzagaray. It also plans to support its Geocycle subsidiary in supplying higher amounts of post-consumer and municipal solid wastes.

“This investment ensures we can continue being a reliable partner in the country’s sustainable development, while also meeting our objectives of making our operations more efficient and respectful of nature,” said Holcim Philippines president and chief executive officer (CEO) John Stull. In 2020 the company co-processed close to 130,000t of qualified wastes from local governments, industry partners and agricultural processors in its plants in Luzon and Mindanao led by its Geocycle unit.

Philippines: Aboitiz Equity Ventures and CRH subsidiary Republic Cement says that it is seeking partners to supply it with plastic waste, which it can co-process as refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The Business World newspaper has reported that the company has set a target of 10m plastic bags/day by 2021.

President and chief executive officer Nabil Francis said, “We would like to commit to a very ambitious target next year, and this target is to co-process not less than 10m equivalent of plastic bags/day, starting from the very beginning of next year.” Angela Edralin-Valencia, the resource recovery director of Republic Cement’s Ecoloop division, said, "It's going to be double what we are currently doing, and it's just the beginning.”

Philippines: Cemex Holdings Philippines has announced the signing of a partnership agreement for the supply of post-consumer plastic waste by foods producer Nestlé Philippines as fuel for co-processing in Cemex Holdings Philippines’ cement plants. The Manila Bulletin has reported that the deal is part of Nestlé’s efforts towards achieving zero packaging waste globally by 2025.

Cemex Holdings Philippines president and CEO Ignacio Mijares Elizondo said, “We recognise and gladly support Nestlé’s commitment to tackling plastic waste. Cemex and Nestlé have a shared vision to make a significant difference and contribute to the economic, social and environmental growth of the Philippines. A green environment will always be at the centre of Cemex Holdings Philippines’ ‘Build A Nation Together’ corporate social responsibility efforts. Our advocacies are dedicated to uplift lives and communities and to protect the environment.”

Philippines: Holcim Philippines has conducted media tours of its Lugait cement plant in Misamis Oriental to raise awareness of its import of processed engineered fuels (PEF) from Australia. In May 2019 containers from Australia arrived at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, but were reported as misdeclared by the Bureau of Customs, according to the Sun Star newspaper. However, Frederic Vallat, Holcim Philippines' vice-president for Alternative Fuels and Alternative raw material and head of Geocycle, said that the Tariff Commission had classified the shipment as PEF in early June 2019. The Environmental Management Bureau also notified the Bureau of Customs that it had no objection to imports of PEF.

The PEF shipment was described as, "a plastic based fluffy fuel with high calorific value consisting by weight, 75 – 85% flexible plastics, paper and natural and hydrocarbon based fibre, 7 – 15% hard plastics, 1 – 5% wood and < 1 – 5% non-combustible inert material in the form of solid flakes (range of particle sizes less than 50 mm), mixed colours with natural odour." It added that the PEF has a gross calorific value of 5700 - 7200kcal/kg, 15% ash content, 20% moisture, 1.5% sulphur and 1% chlorine. It is sourced from municipal wastes such as plastics, rubber, wood, paper, textiles, glass, metals, food materials, broken furniture, and other damaged or discarded articles.

Vallat said that at present, Holcim Philippines has stopped the import of PEF from Australia. They are now in dialogue with the Bureau of Customs over the issue. The company would like to import PEF locally but it was only able to source 7000t in 2018 and its plant needs up to 60,000t/yr.

Philippines: Republic Cement has signed a co-processing agreement with Century Pacific Group to burn post-consumer plastic waste as an alternative fuel. The deal is part of a move by the group to become ‘plastic neutral’ by 2020, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. Century Pacific Group includes brands such as Century canned tuna and the Shakey’s Pizza chain. Republic Cement is licensed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to use and dispose of waste streams through cement kiln co-processing.