France: Authorities have granted construction and environmental clearances to N + P Group to set up its planned Isbergues Subcoal solid recovered fuel (SRF) plant in Hauts-de-France. When commissioned in 2024, the 150,000t/yr-capacity plant will be France's first to commercially produce the coal alternative for cement and other industries. The company says that its products will be able to eliminate 100,000t/yr of industrial CO₂ emissions nationally. N + P Group will use locally sourced waste at the unit.

Chief development officer Lars Jennissen said “Obtaining the environmental and construction permit is a major achievement for us, and we thank our colleagues and partners for their hard work in realising this important milestone. The new location will contribute to the circular economy in Hauts-de-France by converting regional non-recyclable wastes into new resources for regional customers, and it offers a massive potential CO₂ savings for the French market.”

UAE: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) and Emirates RDF have signed four memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Fujairah Cement Industries, JSW Cement, Lafarge Emirates and Star Cement to use alternative fuels produced by the Emirates RDF in the Umm Al Quwain Emirate in their manufacturing operations.

Emirates RDF’s plant treats and transforms municipal solid waste (MSW) from Umm Al Quwain and the emirate of Ajman into refuse derived fuel (RDF). The ministry said in a statement that MOUs are part of its support for integrated waste management projects that treat waste and transform it into economic resources in line with the Ministerial Decree No. 98 of 2019 on using RDF in cement factories. Cement plants in the UAE will be encouraged to meet 10% percent of their total thermal energy needs using RDF.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said, “The participation of the private sector is a main pillar of the UAE’s green economy transition and the adoption of circular economy methods, the foremost of which is integrated waste management. The signing of the agreements with a group of leading cement factories in the country to partially use alternative fuel in their operations is a high-impact step within our efforts to implement integrated waste management and reduce harmful emissions.”

South Korea: SK Ecoplant is at the centre of an initiative in partnership with the city administration of Seoul to co-process 110,000t/yr of sewage sludge from the city as alternative fuel (AF) for cement production. AJU News has reported that the waste management company expects the sludge to fuel 150,000t/yr of local cement production under the initiative.

Seoul generates 200,000t/yr of sewage sludge.

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas has partnered with the University of Seville to build a non-hazardous waste processing plant to produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at its Alcalá de Guadaira cement plant in Seville. The producer hopes that, when commissioned, the installation will help to 'significantly' reduce the plant's energy costs and CO₂ emissions by substituting its RDF for petcoke in cement production.

Along with a renewal to the Alcalá de Guadaira plant's mining lease, the total cost of the project is Euro6m.