France: LafargeHolcim France and ADEME Occitanie, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency for the region, have inaugurated a waste recovery unit at the Port-la-Nouvelle cement plant. The project has an investment of Euro7.5m with support from ADEME. It has included the installation of a drying workshop, a storage and feeding system to the kiln and a chlorine bypass for the kiln. It is intended to help the cement plant use solid recovered fuel (SRF) achieve a co-processing rate of over 90% by 2022.

The cement plant in Occitanie has been using alternative fuels including used tires, animal meal or industrial wood since 1988. Following the installation of a crushed solid waste valorisation workshop in 2011 it achieved a substitution rate of over 60% in 2018.

China: BBMG has sold its 49% stake in Beijing BBMG Mangrove to Jidong Cement for US$242m. Beijing BBMG Mangrove is principally engaged in the collection, storage and processing of poisonous and hazardous wastes.

Italy: Federbeton, the Italian cement and concrete producers’ association, has complained of ‘bureaucratic and regulatory’ obstacles causing Italy to lag behind other European countries in its use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in cement production. Statistics from the Italian Technical and Economic Cement Association (AITEC) show a net AFD substitution of 0.39Mt in 2018, corresponding to 20% of cement fuels burned in Italy. This represents a year-on-year increase of 2.4% from 0.38Mt (17%) in 2017, but lags behind the European annual average of 46%. Peak substitution was in neighbouring Austria, where 79% of cement fuel was refuse-derived. “Our investments in environmental technologies are bearing fruit,” said Antonio Buzzi, coordinator of Federbeton’s Environment and Circular Economy Committee. “We are ready to use larger quantities of alternative raw materials, but continue to pay for these obstacles.”

ANSA has reported that in 2018, Italian cement producers achieved a year-on-year decrease in net CO₂ emissions of 8.9%. Dust levels also decreased by 15.4% compared to 2017.

India: Dalmia Cement and Topcem have signed a deal with the state government of Meghalaya to buy plastic litter from clean-up operations at a cost of US$422/t. The companies, whose combined integrated cement capacity in the state is 2.5Mt/yr, will burn the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) as a partial substitute for coal at three plants. News18 has reported that the deal is part of a concerted campaign by government, NGOs and the general population to bring about a cleaner and plastic-free Meghalaya in time for the National Games, which the state will host in 2022.