Mexico: France’s Veolia has signed a deal with Cementos Moctezuma to build a US$4.8m waste processing unit in San Luis Potosí state. Once operational the unit will be able to process up to 40,000t/yr of industrial waste, according to the Expansión newspaper.

China: China Shanshui Cement has started a strategic cooperation agreement with China Conch Ventures to jointly develop projects to coprocess industrial solid and hazardous waste at its cement plants. It also covers the joint construction of upstream and downstream industrial chains. The agreement is for plants in Shangdong and the northeast of the country.

Ukraine: MS Social Project (Kyiv), part of ICU Group, plans to build a 82,000t/yr municipal waste processing facility at Zhytomyr. The unit will produce variety of products including refuse-derived fuel (RDF), for cement production, according to Interfax. The project is expected to cost up to Euro10m.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines says it is importing alternative fuels or processed engineered fuels (PEF) as it cannot source them locally. It said it was ready to ‘cooperate and provide more information and clarity’ on PEFs in response to plans by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ban imports of waste. It added that a statement by the Environment Management Bureau had confirmed that PEFs conform to the DENR Administrative Order 2010-06: Guidelines on the Use of Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Kilns.

The company said it started using PEF in 2018 and that it accounts for 5% of its alternative fuels consumption. It has been importing PEF to ports at Davao and Tagoloan. It conceded that if the DNER enacts its plans to ban waste imports it would follow government regulations.

The cement producer is responding to a trend against waste imports into South-East Asia. In May 2019 the Philippines recalled to ambassador to Canada in a row over mislabelled recyclable imports. Malaysia has also ordered plastic waste to be sent back to its originating countries.