Displaying items by tag: Switzerland

Switzerland: Holcim has acquired recycling, ready-mix concrete and aggregates company Cand-Landi Group. The company employs 250 people across its operations in Western Switzerland. Holcim plans for Cand-Landi Group to supply alternative raw materials and fuels for use at its Eclépens plant. It says that the acquisition will increase its recycling capacity of construction and demolition materials by 100,000t/yr.

Holcim CEO Miljan Gutovic said "The acquisition of the Cand-Landi Group will advance decarbonisation and circularity in Switzerland, a lighthouse market for innovation at Holcim. I look forward to welcoming all 250 employees of the Cand-Landi Group and investing in our next chapter of growth together."

Switzerland: Switzerland-based ABB is launching the ProKiln inlet gas sampling system to help cement producers reduce the volatility associated with using higher levels of alternative fuels (AF) and allow kilns to run for longer. The product offers probe cleaning with increased mechanical strength, which includes a dual probe retraction system to ensure no sampling interruption.

The supplier says that its product uses an extractive filter in the tip of the probe which separates sample gas from the dust load to reduce problems faced with scaling of material when gathering data. It also uses two air blasters to clean the tip to maintain a sample path for analysis. A three-dimensional printed stainless steel nozzle is intended to ensure that no blockages at the tip of the probe occur and the system is mounted on a buggy running on a retractor which carries the probe in and out of the kiln allowing it to be cleaned automatically. Measuring 3m long, the gas probe is water cooled with an extractive filter placed at the sample and flow is maintained by the blasters. A cooling system also provides recirculating water for temperature control.

The ProKiln has been tested for six months at Holcim’s Lägerdorf site in Germany, a cement plant that has an AF substitution rate of over 80%.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim says it will double the use of waste derived fuels in production by 2030 from a baseline set in 2018. It made the announcement as it signed the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Business Ambition for 1.5°C pledge, which commits it to net-zero carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 2050. It says it is the first building materials company to join the pledge.

The company has committed itself to a 20% reduction in its CO₂ intensity between 2018 and 2030. It says that over the period it will: “accelerate the use of low-carbon and carbon-neutral products such as ECOPact and Susteno, recycle 100Mt of waste and by-products for energy and raw materials, scale up the use of calcined clay and develop novel cements with new binders, reach net CO₂ emissions 475kg/t of cementitious material and open and operate its first net-zero CO₂ cement plant.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch said, “I believe in building a world that works for people and the planet. That’s why we are reinventing how the world builds today to make it greener with low-carbon and circular solutions. I am very excited to be working with SBTi, taking a rigorous science-based approach to shape our net zero roadmap and accelerating our efforts to substantially lower our CO₂ footprint. I will not stop pushing the boundaries to lead the way in green construction.”

Spain: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Geocycle has commissioned an UNTHA XR3000C shredder at its Albox waste processing plant in Almeria. The 15,000t/yr shredder will process domestically-produced commercial and industrial waste, including oil- and solvent-contaminated textiles, plastics, paper and cardboard, into fuel suitable for co-processing at any of LafargeHolcim’s five Spanish cement plants. Geocycle Operations Manager Raúl Lannegrand said, “Co-processing is recognised by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Basel Convention and the European Commission as a practical, cost-efficient, safe and environmentally-preferred waste treatment method, so it was important for us to make the most of the landfill diversion opportunity we had identified in Spain.”

El Salvador: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim El Salvador has announced that it substituted 26,000t of refuse-derived fuel at its 1.7Mt/yr integrated El Ronco cement plant in Metapán, Santa Ana department, in 2019, up by 30% year-on-year from 20,000t in 2018.

In 2019 Holcim El Salvador produced 1.2Mt of cement. The company is currently investigating the possibility of installing a US$5m solar power plant at the El Ronco cement plant. It has signalled an intention ‘in the long term’ to resume operations at its 1.6Mt/yr Maya cement plant, mothballed in 2008, at an estimated cost of US$20m.

Spain: Holcim España has reported that it has achieved a 10,000t reduction in CO₂ emissions at its 1.5Mt/yr integrated Carboneras plant in Almeria in 2019 by the 30% (60,000t) substitution of alternative fuels for coal throughout the year. Agencia Efa newspaper has reported that the switch was the result of a Euro0.88m upgrade to the kiln line as a part of LafargeHolcim’s Euro20m investment in measures to reduce its Spanish carbon footprint by 90,000t/yr. This also includes the introduction of plant-derived biomass to the Carboneras line by the end of 2020, at an estimated cost of Euro3.1m.

US: The debate over proposed clean air regulations which may restrict or halt LafargeHolcim’s tyre-burning plans at its 2.0Mt/yr Ravena plant will take place on 23 December 2019. The Times Union newspaper has reported that councillors will debate whether to lower the maximum permitted pollutant emissions from incineration facilities to a level below that entailed by LafargeHolcim’s alternative fuel (AF) plans.

In mid-2018, LafargeHolcim’s licence from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the combustion of 4.8M tyres per year expired. It announced ‘preliminary discussions’ with tyre suppliers in January 2019.

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.

UK/Europe: Cemex’s South Ferriby cement plant is participating in the European Union (EU) supported enhanced energy and resource efficiency and performance in process industry operations via onsite and cross-sectorial symbiosis (EPOS) project. Designed to enable cross-sector industrial working, the project highlights case studies exemplifying ways for companies to use wastes from other industries to deliver greater efficiency, save raw materials, and contribute to more sustainable processes.

The South Ferriby plant has worked with other companies, including the INEOS chemical company, to determine how waste from INEOS’s production could be used as part of the cement manufacturing process. In addition Cemex Poland and Cemex Research Group in Switzerland will also represent Cemex in the project.

“It is a privilege for Cemex’s cement plant in South Ferriby to participate in this project, collaborating with other companies and partners across Europe. This helps to ensure that we operate our cement plant as efficiently as possible, while learning lessons that we can apply to our other facilities,” said Kevin Groombridge, South Ferriby Cement Plant Environment Manager.