Nigeria: The Lagos State Waste Management Agency has praised the work of LafargeHolcim’s waste management subsidiary Geocycle following a tour of its plant in Ewekoro. Daniel Adedokun, the head of Geocycle - Lafarge Africa, said that the company is preparing to open additional processing units at the cement producer’s Ashaka and Mfamosing plant, according the Punch newspaper. In a statement Lafarge Africa said that Geocycle was Nigeria’s first full-fledged professional waste management service provider that collected waste and converted it to the energy required to convert it into an alternative fuel.

France: Vicat and waste management company Paprec have started a joint-venture based in Bouches-du-Rhône called ‘ALTèreNATIVE.’ They plan to start building a solid recovered fuel (SRF) plant with a capacity of 50,000t/yr from mid-2022 with commissioning scheduled for January 2023. The unit will supply alternative fuels to Vicat’s integrated cement plants. The project has an investment of Euro15m.

UK: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has launched a Euro15.1m project to increase its use of alternative fuels at its Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire. The company plans to install a 100,000t/yr pre-processing unit and a new chlorine bypass at the site. The new pre-processing unit, including a haulage and feeding platform, will be built across the road from the main plant and connected via an enclosed conveyor. The company intends to complete the work in early 2022. It says that it will result in a 30,000t/yr CO₂ emission reduction.

Chief executive officer Dragan Maksimovic said, “It is great to see us continuing to recognise the importance of sustainability and investing in Cauldon cement plant to ensure that we further reduce carbon emissions and remain sustainable for the long term, both as a local employer and contributor to the local economy, as well as a UK-wide supplier of high quality products and services.”

UK: Bunting has officially opened its Redditch magnetic separators plant following a production and storage capacity expansion. The upgrade increases floor space by 50%. It also adds a new office floor and a Customer Experience Centre, where mining, processing and recycling companies can send samples to a laboratory for controlled tests.

Europe regional managing director Simon Ayling said, “Despite delays and challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we now have a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which is already providing the additional space needed to fulfil the growth in orders.”