Mexico: Cemex has acquired waste management company Broquers Ambiental. The company manages the separation, recovery and treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the city of Queretaro. MSW from the company will be used as an alternative fuel at Cemex’s local cement plants. This acquisition is part of its Future in Action program, aimed to achieve carbon neutrality.

“With this acquisition, at Cemex, we are firmly committed to the circular economy by integrating our value chain to the production of climate-friendly fuels that we use in cement production. Our objective for this year is to double Broquer´s capacity and thereby contribute to the progress towards sustainability in the city of Queretaro, as well as the transformation of Mexico towards a green economy,” said Ricardo Naya, President of Cemex Mexico.

Broquers expects to increase the current staff by 50 new employees in 2022 to expand its processing capacity. The waste management company was reportedly the first plant of its kind in Mexico to use waste separation equipment in line with European standards for waste treatment.

UK: Netherlands-based N+P has acquired the Crayford Material Recycling Facility (MRF) in South-East London from Viridor for an undisclosed sum. The facility processes 330,000t/yr of dry mixed recyclables from Greater London, the South and South-East of the UK. It employs 260 people.

This is the third acquisition by N+P since it started a strategic partnership with commodities trading company Mercuria in April 2021 and more are planned. N+P has invested Euro90m in the UK in 2021 and it plans to invest the same amount in 2022. This is part of the company’s overall Euro239m investment between 2021 and 2022. The key driver of this expansion is to accelerate the production of N+P’s alternative fuel product Subcoal. N+P plans to increase throughput at Crayford to 500,000t/yr and it wants to add 13 alternative fuel production plants to its operations in Europe by 2026, producing over 5Mt/yr of alternative fuels per year.

“N+P’s rationale for acquiring the London location is driven by the company’s desire to expand production in locations throughout the UK and diversify its activities. Ultimately, having both an alternative fuel production location as well as a MRF operation at the same location optimises the complete value chain for waste. N+P believes the non-recyclable waste fraction can play a significant role in the transition to cleaner future proof energy sources,” said Stijn Jennissen, the chief commercial officer at N+P.

India: HeidelbergCement India has commissioned an alternative fuel (AF) receiving, storage and feeding system at its Narsingarh clinker plant in Madhya Pradesh. United News of India has reported the company’s investment in the facility’s construction as US$2.16m. It says that it will give the Narsingarh plant an AF substitution rate of 5%, reducing its carbon footprint by 42,000t/yr. The company plans to raise its substitution rate to over 10% ‘in the coming years.’

Colombia: Cementos Argos says that it processed 20,000t of waste into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in 2021. The RDF replaced some of the fossil fuels in its cement plants’ fuel mixes. During the year, the company also increased its total volume of tyres used as fuel by 48%.