Displaying items by tag: RDF

India: Around 67t of non-recyclable materials collected from the city of Ernakulam have been sent to cement plants as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for the plant’s processes, according to October 2024 estimates. 36t/day of materials from local bodies and an additional 27t/day from Clean Kerala Company facilities are handed over to cement plants, with private facilities contributing 3.9t. The waste generated in households and commercial establishments was sorted at material collection facilities and resource recovery units managed by local bodies, before being used for energy generation in cement manufacturing. Haritha Karma Sena volunteers manage the collection of non-biodegradable materials from households and shops, directing these materials to nearly 15 cement plants across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat for co-processing.

Iraq: Eggersmann Anlagenbau has expanded its refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production facility in Sulaymaniyah, operated by Ecocem Environmental Solution, part of the Faruk Investment Group. The expansion includes a new Eggersmann TEUTON ZS 55 single shaft shredder and four additional lanes for biological drying using the CONVAERO system. This system is integral to the Eggersmann RDF process, which converts municipal solid ‘waste’ into high calorific value RDF used by the regional cement producers Gasin Cement Company and Bazian Cement Company. The facility, which has a capacity of 1100t/day of RDF, will see an increase with the expansion. The Eggersmann FUEL process utilises biowaste in RDF production, improving both the quantity and quality of the fuel through biological drying in the CONVAERO system, relying on the natural warmth of the composting process. This method reduces methane emissions at landfill sites by integrating biomass into the fuel, according to the company.

Business development manager at Eggersmann, Eugen Becker, said "A particularly high quality substitute fuel is being produced with the Eggersmann FUEL process in Sulaymaniyah, whose net calorific value can be precisely tailored to the customer’s needs over the adjusting of the drying period. This quality makes a noticeable economic difference."

India: Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation has conducted a trial run of its refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant at Sanmathi Park, Chala. The plant processes up to 1t/day of legacy waste, which is hard to segregate, to produce fuel for cement plants. The plant processes 40kg of materials per 15-minute cycle. Currently, non-recyclable materials are sent to Tamil Nadu cement plants. The government plans to establish at least one RDF plant per district as a permanent solution.

India: The Jaipur Heritage Municipal Corporation has successfully converted around 6000kg of seized single-use plastic into a revenue-generating resource by selling it to cement plants. The plastic was collected over the past three to four months from local markets as part of an anti-plastic campaign, according to the Press Trust of India.

Commissioner Abhishek Surana said "Disposal of the seized single-use plastic was a major issue. We assessed that a supply chain exists in the system and installed refuse derived fuel machines at dumping yards to shred the plastic and sell it to cement manufacturing plants. It has also started generating revenue for the corporation."

Australia: Veolia ANZ and ResourceCo have secured a contract to supply over 1Mt of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from their Adelaide facility to Adbri Cement's Birkenhead plant, aiming to replace natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to Veolia, around 1.5Mt of waste will be diverted from landfill during the course of the contract.

Brett Brown, chief operating officer at Adbri, said "Adbri has pioneered the use of RDF in Australia. Cement manufacturing is energy intensive, and the use of alternative fuels is one of the levers we are using to reduce our emissions as part of our goal of net zero by 2050."

India: Kerala has converted approximately 48,000t of non-recyclable waste into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use in cement plants, from the period of January - December 2023. The Department of Local Self-Government reported that 29,826t originated from the government sector and 18,205t from the private sector. The material was collected from households and shops, separated at collection facilities and sent to cement plants for co-processing. The local authorities managed the collection and separation of dry waste.

The state has ‘significantly’ invested in infrastructure for dry waste storage, with 167 resource recovery facilities, 1981 collection facilities, 20,904 mini collection facilities, and 57 storage warehouses over 45,522m². The Haritha Mithram mobile app has led to an increase in door-to-door waste collection and the volume of dry waste processed. The state has added 41 more warehouses so far in 2024 to manage the increased waste collection.

Spain: Cemex España plans to install a new tertiary mill in its Alicante cement plant’s refuse-derived fuel (RDF) line. The project, called Molentis, is scheduled for completion in early 2025 and will cost €6m. The Molentis upgrade will help the Alicante cement plant to raise its RDF substitution rate by 8%, according to the producer. This in turn will reduce its CO₂ emissions by 6700t/yr. The Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism granted €4.4m toward the project to Cemex España under its Innovation and Sustainability Plan.

Cemex España director of operations Benjamín Cabrera said "Molentis will enable us to advance towards climate neutrality and position the Alicante factory at the forefront of new technologies in the decarbonised industry."

UK: WKE has despatched its first shipment of WKE fuel pellets to an overseas customer. The shipment consisted of 7000t of fuel pellets, and embarked from the Port of Middlesborough in North Yorkshire earlier in December 2023. The shipment is a first trial, with a view to potentially increasing exports to 50,000t/yr.

CEO Ian Jones said “This is a huge milestone for us as it represents the completion of commissioning, from the waste arriving at our plant to the product being shipped out. We’re ideally located for bulk shipments and we can do anything from 3000t to 10,000t in a single shipment. It’s an exciting time for WKE, as we have multiple trans-frontier shipments being put in place for new customer trials across a range of industries in 2024, including cement plants in the UK, Europe and further afield.” He added “Countries who are currently not allowed to take waste from the UK are also actively seeking approval from their own governments to import our product.”

Finland: Norway-based Geminor inaugurated a new 150,000t/yr refuse-derived fuel (RDF) import facility at the Kilke Material Recycling Centre near Helsinki on 30 November 2023. The site is Geminor’s third such facility in Finland.

Country Manager Ismo Hiltunen said “Due to, among other things, lower activity in the construction industry, RDF fractions have become a scarce commodity in Finland.” He continued “After Finland became an import market for secondary fuels, the market has struggled to find processing sites for imported waste in Finland, a challenge this facility will now help to solve. The capacity of 150,000t/yr means that we could import up to 80% of Finland's current total RDF imports via this hub alone.”

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has announced the successful completion of a trial of cement production using a net-zero fuel mix consisting of hydrogen and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at Hanson’s Ribblesdale, Lancashire, cement plant. The RDF in the mix consists of meat and bone meal (MBM) from the food industry and glycerol from biodiesel production.

Increased alternative fuel (AF) substitution is one of seven key levers in the MPA’s Roadmap Beyond Net Zero emissions reduction strategy. The association says that the fuel will eliminate 180,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions from the Ribblesdale plant’s operations when fully implemented. The project received Euro3.71m in government funding.

Hanson’s environmental sustainability manager Iain Walpole said “We are delighted to be involved with this world-leading project, which is a further example of our commitment to cutting CO₂ emissions.” He added “It will also contribute to our ambition of supplying net zero carbon concrete by 2050.”