Global CemFuels News

France: LafargeHolcim has launched a Euro100m upgrade to build a new clinker production line at its Martres cement plant in Tolosane. Construction work on the new line will start in the third quarter of 2018 and will be completed in mid-2020. A key feature of the upgrade will be a focus on using alternative fuels in the new kiln, particularly tyres. Following the project’s completion the plant will have a substitution rate of 80% from 30% at present.

Colombia: Holcim Colombia says it will stop burning ‘toxic’ waste as an alternative fuel at its Nobsa cement plant following a campaign by environmental activitists. The cement producer has stopped burning plastics at the plant, according to HSB News. However, initial complaints were leveled at the use of pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial waste as fuels.

Mexico: Geocycle operations based in Colima and Veracruz have received the ‘Environmental Excellence 2017’ award given by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) through the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA). The award is the maximum recognition granted by PROFEPA to companies that demonstrate continuous improvement in their ecological performance, a commitment to environmental preservation and social responsibility with their surroundings.

"At Geocycle Mexico we have an on-going commitment to sustainable development, not only with our co-processing solution for industrial waste management, but also in our daily operations. We are aligned to a global vision, with strict levels to reduce and control our carbon footprint, and proud to say that as a company we are contributing to a better future," said Miguel Ladron de Guevara, director of Geocycle Mexico.

Geocycle, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, supports its parent company’s alternative fuels strategy around the world. LafargeHolcim runs cement plants at Orizaba in Veracruz and Tecoman in Colima.

Germany: Schwenk Zement is planning to build a 47 metre high sewage sludge silo at its Allmendingen cement plant. It also wants to build a sewage sludge storage facilty with a capacity of 9600m³, according to the Schwäbische Zeitung newspaper. It intends to use the sludge as an alternative fuel for its kiln. Sludge will be delivered from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

Germany: Vecoplan has appointed Thomas Sturm as its chief operating officer (COO). He will be responsible for production, quality assurance, purchasing, development, assembly and electrical engineering in the newly created position.
He will join the chief executive Werner Berens, chief financial officer Michael Lambert and division heads Dirk Müller, Stefan Kaiser and Markus Claudy in the expanded management team.

Sturm, aged 52 years, is a mechanical engineer who worked for Vecoplan previously from 1992 to 2009. He then moved to a management position in a company specialising in the design, construction and manufacture of complex lightweight structures and later served as COO for a developer and manufacturer of custom-made assemblies for civil aviation.