Honduras: Colombia’s Cementos Argos has launched a campaign to collect used tyres as part of a health and environmental initiative in Comayagua. Participants who supply used tyres will be rewarded with a fruit tree for each tyre returned, according to Periódico Digital. So far the 2019 campaign has seen a total of 2235 tyres collected. This is the fifth year that the cement producer has participated in the scheme.

Netherlands/UK: The RDF Industry Group has criticised a new tax proposal by the Dutch government on waste imports as part of its National Climate Agreement. The government wants to impose a tariff of Euro32/t on imported refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from the start of January 2020. It also wants to add a CO₂ tax of Euro30/t on industrial emitters from the start of 2021. The group says that, whilst it welcomes moves towards reducing CO₂ emissions, it believes the proposed Dutch taxes, in their current form, will be counterproductive in achieving this goal.

“RDF export forms a vital and flexible part of the UK’s waste management system, supporting over 6800 additional jobs in the UK, and saving over 700,000 tonnes CO₂ emissions annually. The Netherlands is the largest importer of UK waste, receiving 1.3Mt of RDF from the UK in 2018, powering good quality, efficient treatment facilities, many of which utilise heat offtake as well as electricity. The introduction of an import tax risks more waste going to landfill in the UK each year, disregarding the waste hierarchy, worsening the environmental impact, increasing costs and putting jobs at risk. Furthermore, given the large proportion of waste to Dutch incinerators that comes from the UK, there is also a risk of plant closures, and job losses in the Netherlands,” said Robert Corijn, chair of the RDF Industry Group.

The RDF Industry Group says it has raised its concerns with Dutch Parliamentary representatives.

UK: Tarmac has ordered a solid recovered fuel (SRF) handling system from Saxlund International to increase the capability to utilise alternative fuels at its Dunbar integrated cement plant. The SRF system will be installed in the second half of 2019. It is designed for the reception of trucks and storage of fuel in two bunkers. The new system includes processing of fuel to remove ferrous and oversize particles before weighing and dosing into a pneumatic conveying system for kiln injection. The Dunbar plant will use SRF supplied by Hamilton - Solid Recovered Fuel.

“We are delighted to be involved in the development of this new SRF facility at the Dunbar Cement works. The overall system for the reception, storage and conveying of SRF fuel will help to ensure a highly resilient and robust solution for our client,” said Mark Neal, sales manager at Saxlund International.

Hungary: Lafarge Cement Hungary plans to spend Euro6.2m on an upgrade at its integrated Kiralyegyháza plant. The investment will be used to increase its alternative fuels substitution rate to 80% from 60% at present, according to MTI. The unit’s CO₂, emissions will also be reduced by 10%. The upgrade will start in late 2019 with expansion of the plant’s alternative fuels storage capacity planned for the first half of 2020.