India: A group of cement producers in the Kalaburagi district have stopped using refuse-derived fuel (RDF) sourced from Bengaluru on economic grounds after a six-month trial period. Although the manufacturers do not pay for the RDF they say that it costs more than coal once transportation costs are taken into account, according to the Hindu newspaper. RDF from the city is transported over 500km to the plants.

In a meeting with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palik (BBMP), an administrative city council body, one producer alleged that the RDF supplied by the city was not meeting pre-determined agreed moisture content, presentation in compressed bales and that the local government had promised to pay for the transport costs. An official from the BBMP argued back that the body was not prepared to pay transport costs for RDF and that coal costs US$82/t compared to the RDF transport cost of US$34/t. However, the BBMP has agreed to supply RDF in compressed bales and producers have welcome this concession as it will reduce logistics costs.

Canada: The Environment Department has approved plans by the Lafarge Brookfield cement plant to burn tyres in a kiln in a one-year pilot project. The company will be obliged to conduct monitor air quality, groundwater and surface water in the area during the trial, according to the Canadian Press newspaper. Industrial approvals are normally issued for 10 years but the shorter period will allow the authorities to scrutinise the situation more closely. Lafarge Canada plans to burn up to 5200t/yr in the pilot.

The decision to allow the pilot to go ahead follows local criticism of the project. A previous attempt by the cement producer to co-process tyres at the plant was blocked in 2007. The provincial Supreme Court dismissed a residents' group's bid for a judicial review of the pilot in March 2018.

Oman: Oman Cement has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (Be'ah), a government-owned solid waste management company. The deal covers using tyres from Be’ah’s waste collection sites to use in the cement producer’s kilns, according to the Oman Daily Observer. Around 45,000t of ‘end-of-life’ tyres are collected in the country each year, particularly in Dhofar Governorate. In 2017 Be’ah invited proposals to recycle and/or dispose of the excess tyres.

Russia: LafargeHolcim Russia has won a Change Management Visionary award for its co-processing activities at its Ferzikovo cement plant in Kaluga. The company says it is the only business licensed to co-process waste by the Russian government. The Geocycle operation at the unit processed around 26,000t of solid municipal waste in 2017 sourced from the Kaluga and Moscow regions. The plant processed 1000t/month of plastic packaging waste in 2017 and this is expected to rise to 2000t/month in 2018. The company says that its treatment is aligned with European Union waste treatment principles.