Displaying items by tag: Fly Ash

UK: Tarmac has acquired full ownership of ScotAsh by purchasing the remaining 50% share of the company from Scottish Power. Tarmac will now take full ownership of ScotAsh, which it has operated since 1999, and will continue to operate the company under the ScotAsh name. ScotAsh manufactures products using recycled pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from power stations, which is used in the cement, aggregate and grout industries.

“Each year, ScotAsh supplies its range of sustainable, technologically advanced products to customers within the UK and global construction industry, including to Tarmac’s Dunbar cement plant for production of its Phoenix cement,” said Allan Everett, Ash business manager at Tarmac. He added that further integrating the company into Tarmac would help it to enhance expertise at both businesses, leverage the national supply and import capabilities for PFA and strengthening its product portfolio.

Australia: The Federal Court has upheld an appeal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and raised a fine against Cement Australia and its subsidiaries for anti-competitive agreements to US$16.1m. Originally the cement producer was fined US$13.4m but the ACCC argued it was too low. A cross appeal by Cement Australia was dismissed.

“The penalties imposed in competition cases are hugely important in deterring anti-competitive conduct, which is why we appealed the original penalties given to Cement Australia,” said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims.

The ACCC first brought the proceedings in 2008 against Cement Australia, Cement Australia Holdings, Cement Australia Queensland (formerly Queensland Cement Ltd), Pozzolanic Enterprises and Pozzolanic Industries. They were related to contracts that were entered into by Cement Australia companies between 2002 and 2006 with four power stations in South East Queensland, to acquire fly ash. The court found contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act in 2014 and a fine was issued in 2016.

Italy: Cementir has defended its conduct in an illegal waste investigation. It expressed ‘full confidence’ in the Prosecutor’s Office of Lecce following the decision by a judge to seize a power plant run by Enel, according to Reuters. The probe is exploring whether Cementir Italia’s Taranto plant purchased ‘illegal’ by-products from Enel and the ILVA steel plant to produce cement. Cementir confirmed that it had regularly purchased fly ash for its Taranto plant but that this ended at the start of 2016. It added that its use of sludge in cement production was covered by an Integrated Environmental Authorisation.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has announced that it purchased a 50% stake in Ecotrade in early 2017. Ecotrade supplies industrial byproducts, such as fly ash and blast furnace slags, from power plants and steel mills to the cement industry with deliveries of over 2Mt/yr at its peak. The company is a member of the Italian Register of Environmental Operators and it has a national distribution network in Italy. Buzzi Unicem intends to use Ecotrade’s expertise to expand its operations internally.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement plans to establish a fly ash washing plant at its Oita cement plant. It will collect fly ash generated by local government wastedisposal facilities and use this as a raw material to produce cement. In 2016 Taiheiyo Cement entered into a three-way agreement for the promotion of a recycling-based society with the local governments of Oita and Tsukumi and took part in talks concerning the recycling of waste materials generated within Oita Prefecture. Bottom ash generated by waste disposal facilities has been used at the Oita plant since 2007.

India: The Cement Corporation of India (CCI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), the owner of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to build a 2Mt/yr slag and fly ash cement plant. RINL will provide the blast furnace slag and fly ash for the project. The plant is expected to cost US$23m and it will take 15 months once the deal is finalised.

UK: Aggregate Industries has launched six new products in its Lafarge Cement range. The additions include Super White Cement and Sulfate Resistant Portland fly ash cement as well as Concrete Mix, Postmix and Mortar Mix blends, and Hydrated Lime. The new products join the LafargeHolcim subsidiary’s already established Lafarge General Purpose Cement range.

India: 15 companies have expressed interest in building cemeunt plants near to NTPC’s power stations. The electricity generation company sought cement producers in early 2017 to submit expressions of interest for partnerships to build 1Mt/yr cement plants, according to the Mint newspaper. NTPC wants its partners to sign long-term agreements with it to exclusively use fly ash and electricity from its power plants. The company has declined to name the companies that have expressed interest in the scheme. However, the power plants it wants to set up cement plants near include Barh, Farakka, Bongaigaon, Dadri, Badarpur, Moda and Aravali Power.

US: Boral has completed its acquisition of Headwaters, a leading building products manufacturer and fly ash marketer in North America. Boral USA and Headwaters will form a new division to be named Boral North America, which will be headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the location of Boral’s current US headquarters.

India: Ambuja Cement has launched Ambuja Compocem, a composite cement made from fly ash and slag. The product is being produced at its Chhattisgarh plant and it has been introduced to markets in Bihar and Jharkland. It is being marketed to all market segments including individual house builders, real estate developers and infrastructure projects.

“With the launch of Ambuja Compocem, we have achieved a three pronged sustainability approach by conserving natural resources, creating a greener product and fulfilling customer needs for a superior performance product. We call this approach delivering true value,” said Ambuja Cement’s managing director and chief executive officer Ajay Kapur.