Belarus: The Council of Ministers of Belarus has approved the creation of a plan for the production of alternative fuels from municipal solid waste (MSW) and its use in the country. The aim is to expand the scope of use of municipal solid waste and its conversion into refuse derived fuel (RDF) including usage at cement plants.

The project aims to replace imported coal and natural gas with RDF levels of up to 330,000t for use by cement kilns. This will require around 1.1Mt of MSW or 26% of the country’s supply. In order to do this it has been recommended that new MSW sorting facilities should be set up and the existing ones should be retrofitted to produce raw materials for RDF.

The works will be implemented in two phases. Under the first phase (2016 - 2017), two facilities for the production of RDF will be set up in Krichev to supply Krichevcementnoshifer and Belarusian Cement Plant and one in Krasnoselsk for the Krasnoselskstroymaterialy company. In addition the fuel supply systems will need to be upgraded at the cement plants, production of raw material for RDF will be organised at the existing waste treatment plants in Brest, Mogilev, Gomel, Baranovichi and a waste sorting plant that is under construction in Grodno.

The cost of the first phase is estimated at Euro227m. Under the second phase (2017 - 2020), the output of raw materials for the production of RDF will be increased. In particular, inter-regional sorting plants should be built in Bobruisk, Vawkavysk, Zhlobin, Krichev, Lida, recycling plants should be built in Vitebsk and Orsha, a waste treatment plant should be reconstructed in Gomel. The cost of the second phase totals Euro118m. If this plan is implemented in full, the overall level of waste utilisation will be approximately 27% in 2020.

Algeria: Minister of Water Resources and Environment Abdelkader Ouali has encouraged investors to enter the waste recycling market. The minister said that the industry could be worth up to Euro310m during a tour of a waste treatment project at the Lafarge Algeria cement plant at Oggaz.

Ouali also praised Lafarge’s initiative to eliminate wastes through the furnaces of the cement works. These operations have allowed the elimination, over the past two years, of 106t of expired medication, collected in 12 provinces. They have been carried out in cooperation with the ministry of Environment and the Algerian national union of pharmacies and dispensaries.

China: Shaanxi Qinling Cement Group is to buy a 34% stake in a waste management company based in Shandong. The transaction is valued at US$6.1m, according to Reuters. Following the purchase the cement producer will indirectly own a 90% stake in the company.

Mexico: Ecoltec has rebranded as Geocycle Mexico as part of an exercise to unify the brand globally. The company will maintain its commitment to offer management solutions.

“We believe in a cleaner and healthier world without waste, a place where we can all reduce our environmental footprint. With Geocycle, we provide industrial companies and municipal governments with sustainable solutions for the proper management of waste,” said Miguel Ladrón de Guevara, Director General of Geocycle Mexico.

Geocycle, part of the LafargeHolcim Group, focuses on managing waste for co-processing at cement plants. The company has 2000 employees in 60 countries on five continents, which includes 188 co-processing facilities and 10,000 clients worldwide. It contributes to LafargeHolcim’s sustainable development vision, whose goal is to double the percentage of alternative fuels in its energy mix by 2020, which would mean a reduction of more than 30Mt of CO2 worldwide.