Russia: Eurocement says that its subsidiary Peterburgcement’s Slantsy cement plant in Leningrad Oblast is undergoing an upgrade in order to co-process 100,000t/yr of alternative fuel (AF) in its cement production. The group claims that the upgrade will improve the efficiency of the 1.9Mt/yr plant and reduce its consumption of natural gas by 25%. The purported cost of the upgrade is US$1.77m.

Eurocement previously implemented the same technology at another of its cement plants in the Republic of Mordovia.

Cyprus: Vassiliko Cement’s Vassiliko cement plant was the site of a tyre fire in an alternative fuel (AF) storage area on 11 June 2022. The Cyprus Mail newspaper has reported that the fire begun due to a mobile shredder malfunction. Enerco Energy Recovery operates the shredder at the 2.5Mt/yr cement plant. Local residents protested the incident at the site of the plant’s former quarry on 13 June 2022.

Sweden: Cementa plans to increase the share of bio-based alternative fuel (AF) in its Slite, Gotland, cement plant’s fuel mix. The move forms part of the plant’s plan to achieve climate positive cement production from 2030.

Parent company HeidelbergCement’s Northern Europe general manager Giv Brantenberg said “As we capture and store CO₂ from the cement production, including emissions from bioenergy, we will be able to manufacture carbon-free cement for the Swedish construction industry.”

Denmark: Norway-based Geminor has commissioned a new refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production plant in Aalborg, Jutland. The plant is equipped with a windshifter separator, allowing it to extract up to 70% of plastic in residual waste, in addition to metals and wood. This produces a heavy bio-RDF with low fossil content, of the type previously developed by the company at its HUB research facility in Landskrona, Sweden. Though more expensive to produce than other types of RDF, the company believes the fraction offers higher profitability due to its taxation benefits.