Cement News tagged: Environmental
Holcim Foundation's US$2m competition
Holcim Philippines has announced the start of its 4th International Holcim Awards on Sustainable Construction. The search is now on for the best ideas on how the construction industry can improve sustainability with a grand prize of US$2m awaiting the competition winner. A global independent panel of experts from renowned technical universities will validate the entries. Beng Prado, vice pres...
Cuba’s Siguaney produces first low-carbon cement
Siguaney saw its first low-carbon cement produced on an industrial scale. The Cuban cement plant in Sancti Spíritus delivered a pilot output of 130t of SIG-B45 cement, according to the Structures & Materials R&D Centre (CIDEM) director, Fernando Martirena. The development of the so-called Ecological Cement started in May with the firing of 120t of kaolin of the Pontezuela quarry in Camagüey...
India: industry targets 25% TSR by 2030
The Indian cement industry is failing to realise the potential for alternative fuels and raw material utilisation (AFR), but resolves to raise the thermal substitution rate (TSR) to 25 per cent by 2030, from the current level of less than one per cent. This was the conclusion of a two-day conference on co-processing in cement plants, convened by the Washington-based Institute for Industrial...
ARM Cement denies pollution claims
ARM Cement has denied claims of causing environmental pollution in the Kenyan coastal town of Kilifi, saying that its operations meet international practices and standards. CEO Pradeep Paunrana assured the residents living within the cement maker’s proximity that they are not exposed to pollution caused by cement manufacturing from its process. “Operations are pollution-free within and witho...
Cemex plants earn US Energy Star Certification
Cemex USA announced that five of its cement plants have earned the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star Certification. The recognition of CEMEX USA’s plants in Brooksville (FL), Miami (FL), Clinchfield (GA), Fairborn (OH) and Victorville (CA), ranks these facilities as performing among the top 25 per cent of similar US facilities for energy conservation. 2013 marks the seven...
Pakistan export earnings rise in FY12-13
In the fiscal year ending 30 June 2013, Pakistan exported 9.073Mt of cement on revenues of US$577.73m compared to 8.748Mt at US$498.84m in the corresponding period of last year. These latest figures from Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Statistics show that export volumes rose by 3.71 per cent while in dollar value terms, they were 15.81 per cent higher compared to the comparative period a year ea...
Lafarge delays Ravena kiln project until 2017
Lafarge will be allowed to delay the construction of new pollution control systems at its Ravena works in New York in exchange for an agreement to cut emissions more than previously planned. Lafarge had previously reached a legal settlement with both state and federal officials to reduce emissions of NOx and SO2 emissions at its plants in Ravena and elsewhere in the state. Lafarge had agreed ...
CSI reports encouraging carbon reduction data
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) has published the latest update to the ‘Getting the Numbers Right’ database, which shows significant CO2 emissions reductions and improved efficiency. As the cement industry’s global database of CO 2 emissions and performance, the latest ‘Getting the Numbers Right’ (GNR) data for 2011 sho...
Hima Cement completes installation of new bag filter, Uganda
Hima Cement Ltd, part of the Lafarge group, has completed the installation of new bag filter technology at its Kasese plant in Uganda to bring stack emissions in line with global environmental standards. "We invested significant resources to conduct environmental impact assessments to ensure that the plant operations met all the required environmental standards for its manufacturing processes...
Cemex Mexico launches mobile alternative fuels centre
Cemex Mexico has introduced an innovative solid waste sorting system in the form of a mobile plant that will support its efforts to increase the use of alternative fuels. The system is expected to help avoid the emission of 130,000tpa of CO2, Cemex said in a statement. The mobile plant receives crushes, separates, classifies, and compacts solid waste, producing bales that are used as an alter...
Cemex Philippines waste-to-energy plans
Cemex Philippines is looking into burning solid waste fuel at its plant in APO Cement plant in Naga City, southern Cebu. Rolando Vera Cruz, sustainability director of Cemex Philippines, told The Sun Star that the company hopes to process 300t of waste a day, equivalent to 15 per cent of the total waste generated by the Cebu province. Cemex has joined forces with two waste material recovery f...
USA: Ash Grove's Montana City cement plant invests
Ash Grove Cement in Montana City is aiming to stay competitive, thanks to some recent upgrades and expansion. It's been nearly 50 years since Ash Grove broke ground for its cement plant in Montana City, and while much of the plant may look the same on the outside, many changes have taken place on the inside. Most of the changes have to do with complying with strict EPA industrial emissions r...
Thailand: Siam City Cement's Insee Green Park project
The new Insee Green Park in Saraburi province represents Siam City Cement's (SCC) concern for sustainable development and a green environment. "Green Heart" is the business motto of SCC, producer and distributor of the premium cement brand Insee since 2010. It sees the park as a way to develop its green products and its corporate social responsibility programme, which focuses on the environme...
Italcementi subsidiary signs wind farm agreement, Egypt
The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company signed a contract with Italgen, a subsidiary of Italcementi Group, to build a wind farm to help meet Suez Cement's energy requirements. The contract authorises Italgen, which has been studying the possibility of incorporating wind technology since 2008, to become the first private investor to enter the Egyptian National Grid, and build a wind ener...
European Council authorises EU & Australia ETS link
On 13 May 2013, the European Council adopted a decision authorising the European Commission to open negotiations regarding the linking of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) with an emissions trading scheme in Australia. The step is a precursor to the linking up of the two ETSs by 1 July 2018 and follows the agreement reached between the Commission and Australia in August 2012 to estab...
European Minerals Day puts spotlight on sustainable cement industry
The European Minerals Day (EMD), which was held from 6-24 May 2013, offered a platform for a wide range of events aimed at promoting the minerals sector in Europe. The sustainable development of the sector took centre-stage in exhibitions, debates and other activities. Between 6-8 May an exhibition in the European Parliament focussing on the whole lifecycle of minerals – extraction, process...