Lafarge makes renewed bid for environmental permit, Slovenia

Lafarge Cement (Slovenia) confirmed Wednesday it had filed a new request for an environmental permit, though it would not comment on the details of its filing, the Slovenian Press Agency reports. The Environment Agency (ARSO) said Lafarge had made the filing at the end of April.

The news comes less than two months after Lafarge suspended cement production at its plant in Trbovlje following orders from environmental inspectors. The Administrative Court revoked the environmental permits issued to the plant and other decisions regarding the plant in August last year.

Lafarge, however, continued operations until March, citing provisions in the environmental protection act which state that it is allowed to continue operating until a final decision on its request is made.

While it remains unclear what Lafarge's plans are, unofficial information suggests it has abandoned plans to incinerate waste in cement kiln. Instead, it is believed it applied for a permit to produce 1250tpd of clinker burning petcoke. However, Uroš Macerl, the head of the environmentalist group Eko krog, which has been in a dispute with Lafarge over its emissions for years, said that would not be acceptable.