Global CemFuels News

US: RePower South (RPS) has reached an agreement with Montgomery, Alabama to operate the city’s materials recovery facility (MRF). RPS will invest US$12m in the City of Montgomery Recycling and Recovery Facility. RePower South has partnered with Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) and Loesche Energy Systems to upgrade the existing recycling system to also produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to be sold to cement, power stations and other industrial customers.

The system will process 45t/hr of mixed waste to capture cardboard, metals, paper, plastics and produce fuel. New equipment joining the existing BHS screen, Nihot air and NRT optical sorting technologies include a primary reducer, two NRT optical sorters for fuel cleanup, a Loesche fuel system reducer and PAAL Dokon baler. In total, the system features 10 optical sorters, ensuring the positive recovery of fibre and containers and removal of contamination from fuel.

Repower South holds an exclusive regional license from Accordant Energy for the development, manufacture and sale of ReEngineered Feedstock fuel.

India: The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has set up agreements with two cement companies to process plastic waste. The cement producers will use plastics from a radius of up to 250km, according to the Times of India newspaper. Two plants have been selected initially and then further units will be added to the scheme as required.

India: UltraTech Cement has signed an agreement with Southern Railways to co-process waste at its Ariyalur plant in Tamil Nadu. Waste to be used as fuel at the plant as part of the ten-year deal will include rexin, cushion, coir and thermocol, according to the Times of India newspaper. The first shipment of waste to the cement plant was transported in mid-July 2018.

Sri Lanka: Insee Ecocycle has held a ceremony marking its launch as a separate subsidiary of Insee Cement Sri Lanka. The management team of Insee Cement Sri Lanka gathered at the Ecocycle Pre-processing Facility in Katunayake to mark the occasion, according to the Daily Financial Times newspaper. Geocycle Sri Lanka rebranded as Insee Ecocycle following the acquisition of Holcim Lanka by Thailand’s Siam City Cement.

India: UltraTech Cement’s Reddipalayam plant at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu has started receiving domestic waste from the Vellore Municipal Corporation. The shipments are part of a local smart city initiative, according to the New Indian Express newspaper. Normally the cement plant sources its waste-derived fuels from a 150km radius but a special exception has been made in this case.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the cement producer and municipal corporations in the state to supply regular consignments of non-biodegradable wastes. At present 24 municipalities and one corporation in the state have signed contracts with UltraTech Cement to supply waste-derived fuels.