Displaying items by tag: Award

US: Cemex USA says it invested over US$50m in 2016 on projects and improvements in cement plant operations and other facilities to help reduce environmental impact and conserve nearby wildlife. Four cement plants - Brooksville, Miami, Clinchfield and Victorville - achieved the Energy Star Certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 2017. In 2016 all active Cemex cement plants in the US achieved the Wildlife Habitat Council's Conservation Certification, and several sites in California are currently working to attain that goal.

In May 2017 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department awarded Cemex the 2017 Lone Star Land Steward Award for the Trans Pecos Ecoregion for its on-going commitment to sustainability and land stewardship at the El Carmen Nature Reserve. The company also received the Wildlife Habitat Council's Gold Tier Program of the Year for work at El Carmen in 2016. Other environmental initiatives by the company also include wildlife conservation efforts at various quarries in California.

US: Three Mondi Industrial Bags plants in North America have won awards for plant safety from the Paper Shipping Sack Manufacturers’ Association (PSSMA). The winning plants were Louisville in Kentucky, Arcadia in Louisiana and Salt Lake City in Utah. The Arcadia and Louisiana plants also achieved zero incidents rates in 2016. The awards were presented at the organisation’s seminar in Vancouver, Washington in April 2017.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded CalPortland with a 2017 Energy Star Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award for energy efficiency achievements. CalPortland’s accomplishments will be recognized by the EPA and the Department of Energy in Washington, DC on 26 April 2017.

Its key 2016 accomplishments include a reduction of its energy intensity by 1.1% in 2016 compared to business as usual in 2015 which resulted in over US$682,000 in savings and a reduction of 14,234Mt of CO₂. The company initiated a new ‘CalPortland Energy Cup’ competition that compares and quantifies energy practices and performance of its three cement plants. All three CalPortland cement plants scored in the top quartile of the Energy Performance Indicators (EPI) benchmarking tool. The Rillito plant has been certified for the past five years in a row.

CalPortland has also completed several large energy saving projects including the installation of a new US$9m clinker cooler at the Rillito cement plant, a US$14m Anchorage terminal storage dome and a US$2m preheater duct replacement at the Mojave cement plant.

Germany: BHS-Sonthofen and MSW Mineralstoffwerke Südwest have been awarded the German Resources Efficiency Award 2016 for their Combimix process. The German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy awarded the prize to the two companies in mid-February 2017. The process uses lime to improve raw materials yields in quarries contaminated with clay.

BHS developed the Combimix process based on their twin-shaft batch mixers and implemented it together with MSW. It uses lime to mix with clay that then undergoes a chemical reaction and this allows it to be separated from the rock in a subsequent processing step. The process allows more materials, such as limestone, to be extracted from quarries and extends the usable lifespans of such sites. In addition, previously dumped materials considered unprofitable can now be reassessed.

MSW introduced the process at its Mönsheim quarry in the summer of 2016. It allowed the company to increase its repository’s yield by 25%. To produce the same volume of the final product, it was previously necessary to extract about 620,000t/yr of limestone. At present the total is around 188,000t less, which corresponds to a relative reduction of around 30%. It helped to increase raw material efficiency from the previous level of 65 – 70% to around 93%.

“Our Combimix process holds a vast potential as it enables companies across the globe and throughout various industries to utilise resources more efficiently. In the context of rehabilitating contaminated soil, Combimix can be used to remove oil and other harmful substances. As a result, only a small fraction of the feed material needs to be dumped in hazardous waste landfills. The process is also viable for the cement industry. Here, it can be applied to processing limestone, a key ingredient that improves the burning process in rotary kilns and thus contributes to reducing fuel consumption,” said Dennis Kemmann, the managing director of BHS-Sonthofen.

US: Cemex USA’s Victorville cement plant in California has been awarded Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) Conservation Certification for work towards sustainability, environmental-protection and land-stewardship. The WHC presented the Victorville plant with the certification on 3 November 2016 during a ceremony at the 2016 WHC Conservation Conference in Baltimore. The designation means that all Cemex USA’s cement plants are now WHC-certified. WHC focuses on healthy ecosystems and connected communities. Cemex now has 18 WHC-certified sites in North America, of which fifteen are in the US

Cemex’s WHC Conservation Certification programs are mainly focused on habitat restoration and sustainability. In 2013, two wind turbines were commissioned at the Victorville plant. The plant also earned its fifth Energy Star certification earlier in 2016 for reducing its energy use and environmental impact and the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District awarded Cemex USA’s Victorville plant operation the 2015/2016 Exemplar Award.

"This plant has persevered through good times and bad: two world wars, three different owners and countless upgrades to its facilities and equipment. Through all of the changes, two things have remained constant: a commitment to safety and a commitment to producing a high-quality product," said Hugo Bolio, Cemex USA’s Executive Vice President of Cement Operations and Technology. The Victorville Cement Plant was established in 1916 and was upgraded in 1997 and 2001. It has a production capacity of 3Mt/yr.

UK: Siemens has won the Materials Handling Engineers’ Association’s (MHEA) first Innovation Award for its work on energy efficiency savings at three Hanson UK plants. The work focused on fan and control improvements made to the clinker cooler and kiln systems at three Hanson UK sites, which have saved the company nearly Euro2m in energy savings and reduced CO₂ emissions. The award was presented at the MEHA’s BULKEX conference in October 2016.

“It’s great to be recognised for this innovative work, where companies can enjoy long-term benefits from process improvements, and we’re particularly pleased to be the first recipients of this award,“ said Siemens application specialist Gary Palmer who worked on all three of the Hanson upgrades.

US: The Cemex Lyons Cement Plant has been recognised by the Portland Cement Association (PCA) with its 2016 Energy and Environment Award for Land Stewardship. Representatives from the Lyons, Colorado unit accepted the award on 31 August 2016 at the PCA’s annual Fall Congress meeting in Chicago.

The Lyons plant’s land-stewardship program for 2015 included limiting invasive plants and weeds and cultivating native plants to attract local wildlife and migrating birds, an effort that was launched at the facility in 2008. The plant also optimised its quarry roads to limit fugitive dust emissions and improve energy efficiency and employee productivity. The plant has previously been recognised by the Wildlife Habitat Council for its diverse environmental programs, including increasing areas dedicated to pollinator plantings and native species to 2.33 acres. On Earth Day, plant employees installed bee boards, bat houses and bird nests.

“Cemex is committed to sustainable practices throughout our operations and to building a better future for our communities through environmental initiatives. We are very proud of our Lyons team and their commitment to land stewardship, and it’s truly an honour to be recognized by the PCA for those efforts,” said Cemex USA president Ignacio Madridejos.

The PCA created the Energy & Environmental awards program in 2000. The PCA awards are given annually to recognise environmental and community relations efforts by cement plants throughout North America. The program is open to any cement manufacturing plant in the region.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has received the 13th Annual Environment Excellence Award 2016. The awards ceremony took place on the occasion of a conference titled 'Making our cities sustainable' organised by The National Forum for Environment and Health. Provincial ministers, the Secretary of the Environment, representative of United Nations and other notables were also present on the occasion.

Iran: Jovein Cement has won an award for most environmentally conscious cement manufacturer in Iran.

Reasons for winning the award included: the cement producer's efforts to extend the lifetime of its kiln refractory bricks by optimising the rate of production and thereby the energy consumption of natural gas; the recycling of refractory materials; investing in installing an online pollution analyser on the plant's main exhaust; using electro-filter technology to reduce the amount of cement dust and other general pollution released to the neighbouring community.

Future plans by Jovein Cement include the installation of a waste heat recovery system to recycle up to 30% of the heat generated by the plant. As an ancillary benefit the plant will also be able to heat water used at the site.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement Limited has received the Quality Standard Award 2015. The awards were held by The Consumers Eye Pakistan (TCEP) to encourage local manufacturers that are maintaining quality standards and have ISO/PSQCA certification in manufacturing standardised products.

Lucky Cement holds the largest share of cement exports from Pakistan and complies with PSQCA standards along with a range of international standards including those of India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. The company uses various methods like dry testing, wet chemical methods, compressive testing and X-Ray diffraction to ensure that product quality is maintained consistently.

"In a highly competitive local and international market, it is imperative for Lucky Cement to maintain its superior quality, while at the same time comply with the requirements of the potential markets," said Amin Ganny, Chief Operating Officer of Lucky Cement Limited.