Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a four-day oral hearing in which it will review Irish Cement’s application for a permanent licence to co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of tyres and other waste materials as fuel in the single dry kiln of its 1.0Mt/yr Limerick plant in County Limerick. Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that 5000 local residents have since petitioned the EPA against permitting the practice, including ex-Irish rugby international Paul O’Connell and a former Love Island contestant.

The EPA said that emissions from operations conducted in accordance with the proposed licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

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.

India: Clean Kerala Company has signed an agreement with ACC to collect of non-recyclable plastic waste from local authorities in Kerala. Initially, the waste processing company will supply 2000t from across the state, according to the Hindu newspaper. A few local governments have also made arrangements with cement producers to supply waste directly.

UK: Germany-based HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Hanson Cement will be the subject of a study in the use of biomass and hydrogen fuels coordinated by the Mineral Products Association. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is funding the Euro3.81m study, the results of which it says will be shared across the cement industry. HeidelbergCement CEO Dominik von Achten said, "In addition to our activities in the field of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), this project is an important step towards realising our vision of carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.”