05 September 2025

Europe: PyroGenesis has signed a US$871,000 contract with a European cement industry customer to supply a plasma torch system for a calciner. The client’s name has not been disclosed for competitive and confidentiality reasons. The system will replace fossil fuel-based heating with plasma technology to provide a ‘cleaner, more efficient’ method for high-temperature calcination, according to the company. Delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

Ireland/UK: Mannok has completed Phase 1 of a two-phase upgrade to its pyroprocessing system with the installation of a new satellite burner in collaboration with FLSmidth. The €2.5m project enables the use of solid recovered fuel (SRF) as a replacement for coal, achieving up to 30% substitution and reducing CO₂ emissions by 23,000t/yr.

Phase 2 will involve upgrading the main burner to a Jetflex system, targeting 65–70% coal substitution across the kiln. Mannok produces about 1.4Mt/yr of cement for customers across the UK and Ireland.

Japan: UBE Mitsubishi Cement (MUCC), Osaka Gas, Daigas Energy and Seibu Gas have successfully tested natural gas co-firing at MUCC’s Kyushu Plant in the Kurosaki area. Using a newly developed burner, the companies replaced 40% of coal with natural gas at commercial scale without affecting kiln stability, product quality or environmental performance.

The burner was developed using MUCC’s coal combustion expertise alongside Osaka Gas and Daigas Energy’s gas combustion and simulation technologies, with Seibu Gas supplying natural gas from LNG tank trucks. MUCC said the trial paves the way for full-scale implementation and supports future use of e-methane in cement kilns.

MUCC aims to cut CO₂ emissions by 40% by 2030, compared to 2013 levels, and achieve group-wide carbon neutrality by 2050 under its medium-term management strategy “Infinity with Will 2025 – MUCC Sustainable Plan 1st STEP.”

Nepal: The Supreme Court has issued a landmark directive requiring industries within 15km of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, to relocate or shut down within two years to preserve the UNESCO World Heritage site. The ruling directly affects around 15 companies, including Arghakhanchi Cement, Jagdamba Cement and Brij Cement, according to The New Business Age newspaper.

The Court annulled earlier government decisions that allowed industrial activity in the area, declaring that protecting Lumbini’s sanctity was of global cultural and spiritual importance. It also prohibited capacity expansion or capital investment in existing plants and reaffirmed a 2009 resolution banning new carbon-emitting industries near the site.

Bishnu Prasad Neupane, chair of the Saurabh Group, which operates Jagdamba Cement, said that compensation must extend beyond land value if the relocation becomes mandatory, noting that US$142–212m has already been invested in the affected industries. Neupane also said “Grinding units do not burn coal or release carbon emissions. We have installed dust-control systems. Claims that dust travels 15km to reach Lumbini are unfounded.”