Displaying items by tag: GCW593

Cemex launched a new waste management division called Regenera this week. Cemex describes Regenera as a “business that provides circularity solutions, including reception, management, recycling, and coprocessing of waste.” The Mexico-based company has a long and leading history with sourcing and using alternative fuels in the cement sector and the new organisation looks set to utilise this experience. What is notable though is how the business is targeting three waste streams: municipal and industrial; industrial by-products; and construction, demolition and excavation waste (CDEW). Bringing the three waste streams together in this way appears to be novel for the heavy building materials sector, particularly the inclusion of CDEW, which we will explore further here.

CDEW is split into fractions, just like the municipal and solid waste streams that end up as alternative fuels at cement plants, but the biggest fractions are generally concrete, followed by bricks. The recycled concrete is then typically used as an aggregate, either in new concrete production or in areas like road construction and earthworks. The use of recycled aggregates (RA) made from CDEW goes back to at least the 1930s in its current form although ‘reusing’ materials from structures such as castles and churches goes back far further. Recycling and reusing CDEW gained a boost in 2020 when the European Union (EU) set a 70% recovery target. However, within the EU the CDEW recycling rates vary considerably and that 2020 target includes the use of CDEW in backfill applications.

In its launch statement for Regenera, Cemex noted that it operates a dock in Paris, where it receives a variety of materials, including construction debris, excavated material and inert soil. These materials are sorted, processed and then transformed into recycled aggregates or organic material used to restore quarries. Cemex then promptly followed up the official launch of Regenera on 30 January 2023 with the acquisition of a majority stake in Shtang Recycle, an Israel-based CDEW recycling company. It added that Shtang Recycle is preparing to build a recycling plant with a production capacity of 0.6Mt/yr of CDEW waste materials. The output from the plant will be used as raw materials for aggregate production.

The focus on CDEW recycling was flagged up at Cemex’s investor event in November 2022. It said that it was targeting a recycling rate of 14Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste by 2030. Other managed waste stream goals included doubling the amount of municipal and industrial waste it manages, to achieve a 50% to fossil fuel substitution rate, and increasing its usage of alternative raw materials and by-products by 30%, thereby eliminating 13Mt/yr of extracted materials.

Cemex is not alone in targeting the CDEW waste sector. Holcim’s recent work in the area goes back to at least 2016 when a recycling unit near its Retznei cement plant in Austria started processing 130,000t/yr of CDEW. It announced in December 2022 that it was setting up a similar recycling centre, also in Austria, at its Mannersdorf cement plant. In October 2022 Holcim acquired Wiltshire Heavy Building Materials in the UK. This company recycles 150,000t/yr of construction and demolition waste into aggregates and concrete. Holcim linked the acquisition to its Strategy 25 target of recycling 10Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste by 2025.

Activity by other cement companies includes the commissioning of a construction waste recycling plant at Gennevilliers in France by CRH-subsidiary Eqiom in April 2022. It was aiming for a target of 50,000t in 2022. In November 2022 Heidelberg Materials agreed to acquire RWG Holding based in Berlin, Germany. Then, in December 2022, it announced a deal to buy Mick George Group in the UK. Both proposed acquisitions are subject to competition authority approval. Heidelberg Materials’ current target is to offer circular alternatives for half of its concrete products by 2030.

The moves by the bigger cement companies into the CDEW sector follow sustainable thinking and the waste hierarchy. Yet the big prize here is to gain a route to dispose of some of their CO₂ emissions through recarbonation and this has been flagged up in several net-zero roadmaps for the cement sector such as those by Cembureau and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). Holcim has been involved in the FastCarb project in France, running a pilot at its Val d’Azergues cement plant in 2021. Heidelberg Materials has been testing its own process with so-called recycled concrete paste. The development now appears to be that utilising CDEW has entered the sustainability strategies for some of the big cement-concrete-aggregate producers, targets have been set and acquisitions are happening.

For more information on Heidelberg Materials research into concrete recycling read the January 2023 issue of Global Cement Magazine

UK: The World Cement Association (WCA) has appointed three new directors: Fabien Charbonnel, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cem’In’Eu; Xu Gang, the chair of the board of Maweni Limestone and Vice President and Head of Overseas Area of its parent company Huaxin Cement; and Kevin Lunney, the chief operations officer of Mannok Holdings. The appointments were agreed at the WCA General Assembly Meeting, which took place in January 2023.

At the same time Mohammed Ali Al-Garni, the CEO of Saudi Cement, and Roland van Wijnen, the CEO of PPC, were re-elected to the board of directors. Vincent Lefebvre, the founder and executive chair of Cem’In’Eu, and Mahendra Singhi, the managing director and CEO of Dalmia Cement, have also resigned as directors. They joined the board of directors of the WCA in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Australia: Adbri has appointed Samantha Hogg as its deputy chair and Lead Independent Director. She will take up her new post following the resignation of Vanessa Guthrie at the end of February 2023.

Hogg holds over 25 years’ experience across the transport, infrastructure, energy and resources sectors. She was previously the chief financial officer at Transurban Group. She has also served as chair or committee chair in both the public and private sectors, with a focus on the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. More recently, she was a member of the Australian National Covid-19 Commission Advisory Panel and the Tasmanian equivalent, focusing on the social and economic recovery from the pandemic. Hogg joined the board of Adbri in early 2022.

Pakistan: Lucky Cement has appointed Muhammad Sohail Tabba as its chair. It has also appointed Shabbir Hamza Khandwala as a director. Both appointments follow the death of former chair Muhammed Yunus Tabba in early January 2023.

Saudi Arabia: Tabuk Cement has appointed Yazid bin Khalid Al-Shathri as the chair of its board of directors. Other staff assignments include the appointment of Tariq bin Khalid Al-Anqari as vice-chair of the board and Amal Bint Hussein Redaa as secretary to the board. The company held an election in late December 2022 to appoint its board of directors from late January 2023 to January 2026.

Mexico: GCC recorded full-year sales of US$1.17bn in 2022, up by 13% year-on-year from US$1.04bn in 2021. The producer’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also rose, by 7.4% year-on-year to US$363m from US$338m.

The producer increased its cement sales volumes by 2.9% in the US, while its cement volumes dropped by 2.9% in Mexico. Prices rose across both regions, by 12% and 13% respectively. An increased cost of production and increased freight and maintenance costs partly offset the rise.

GCC chief executive officer Enrique Escalante said “GCC’s focus on operational excellence enabled us to deliver strong results in an unprecedented market environment. We continue to anticipate challenges, mitigating their potential effects while also capitalising on important opportunities. Our team will continue to adapt to the evolving operating dynamics in the year ahead, as these will present further occasions for us to again leverage our exceptional competitive advantages.”

Oman: Aditya Birla Group subsidiary UltraTech Cement signed an agreement with Seven Seas Company to acquire a 70% majority stake in Duqm Cement on 30 January 2023. ET Now News has reported that UltraTech Cement’s UAE-based subsidiary Cement Middle East Investments concluded the deal in the form of a share sale and purchase agreement. the parties expect to complete the transaction in late April 2023.

Nigeria: China based Sinoma International Engineering has signed a US$585m contract to build an integrated cement plant at Itori in Ogun state. The plant will have two 6000t/day clinker production lines covering limestone crushing to cement packaging and shipping. The contract becomes effective once Sinoma International Engineering receives a geological survey, payment and performance guarantees and a 12% advance payment. Clinker production is scheduled for two years after the contract starts with final commissioning expected a few months later.

Dangote Cement’s Itori Cement subsidiary was established in 2016 at the same time work started on building the 6Mt/yr Okpella plant in Edo state. The Okpella plant started producing cement in 2021.

Iran: The Iranian Cement Industry Employers Association (CIEA) has warned that 50 cement plants are ‘on the verge of closure’ in early 2023. Asia News has reported that plants’ electricity supply has dropped by 50%, while their gas supply has dropped by 80%. Low winter temperatures have diverted the utilities supplies towards heating homes. Cement producers outside of urban areas are licensed to use fuel oil to power their operations. This would increase their costs, however, due to high transport fees.

Qatar: Qatar National Cement Company (QNCC) recorded full-year sales of US$195m in 2022, down by 14% year-on-year from US$226m in 2021. The producer recorded a net profit for the year of US$62.4m, up by 1.2% from US$61.7m.