Displaying items by tag: Sustainability

South Korea: South Korean cement manufacturers recently convened at an event hosted by the Korea Cement Association and the Korea Industry Alliance Forum to discuss how to achieve carbon neutrality. The industry currently faces financial challenges in upgrading equipment due to low cement prices. However, it has achieved a 20% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of cement since 2014, aided by the use of alternative fuels and investment in energy efficiency. The Korean government now requires that greenhouse gases be cut by 12% by 2023 from 2018 levels by 53% by 2050.

The industry currently uses post-consumer plastics as fuels instead of fossil fuels and incorporates byproducts from other industries, like sludge. However, some environmental groups have labelled cement made from industrial byproducts as ‘garbage cement’ claiming it contains hexavalent chromium levels more than four times the EU’s allowable limits. The use of plastics as alternative fuel has also sparked complaints from local waste collection and incineration companies, who argue that cement companies are taking away their business.

Professor Kim Jin-man from Kongju National University said "We also need to focus on developing high-performance clinker, advanced chemical admixtures for concrete, and accelerators that shorten concrete curing times."

Italy: NovaAlgoma, a joint venture between the Italian-Swiss Nova Marine Carriers and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, has announced the construction of the ‘world’s largest and greenest’ cement carrier, weighing 38,000t. This vessel will be built by Xinle Shipbuilding in China and delivered by the end of 2026. It will reportedly be the first to use both traditional fuel and methanol and can connect to electrical grids in ports to eliminate emissions, according to local news reports. Additionally, it will feature a waste heat recovery system that converts exhaust gases into 250kW of electrical energy.

Vincenzo Romeo, CEO of Nova Marine, said "This new construction, which meets the forecasts for the development of our fleet and the growth of cement market demand in the coming years, is intended to consolidate our positioning among the global leaders in cement transportation.”

Croatia: Holcim Croatia's €237m 'KOdeCO' project has been declared a strategic investment by Croatia. This will reportedly make Holcim the first producer of carbon-neutral cement in Croatia and one of the first in Europe, according to a press release by the company.

In January 2024, Holcim Croatia began implementing the carbon capture and storage project at the cement plant in Koromačno, signing a contract with the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency and securing a grant from the EU Innovation Fund totalling €117m. The project will reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 367,000t/yr.

Türkiye: Limak Çimento has received its inaugural delivery of green hydrogen from France-based Air Liquide at its Ankara cement plant. The partners say that the technology will reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 180,000t/yr. ESMERK News has reported that the companies plan to commence a strategic collaboration for the development of green hydrogen ecosystems for the cement industry. Limak plans to implement net zero fuels in the kilns of all seven of its plants between 2035.

UK: The Materials Processing Institute has launched the next phase of the EconoMISER programme with a €5m investment to develop sustainable technologies. The institute aims to advance research in alloy development, furnace modelling and decarbonisation of cement and concrete.

The institute will establish a new cement and concrete research centre and invest in technologies such as predictive artificial intelligence for alloy development. This initiative is part of the UK's effort to decarbonise critical sectors like cement through the EconoMISER programme, supported by UK Research and Innovation.

UK: Heidelberg Materials has announced the launch of a public consultation for its carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Padeswood Cement Works. The consultation, which runs from 2 July - 12 August 2024, will gather public input on the proposed plans to install the CCS technology, which will capture up to 800,000t/yr of CO₂, according to local news reports.

The Padeswood CCS project is expected to create over 400 jobs and forms part of the HyNet North West initiative, a major industrial decarbonisation effort that includes constructing a 60km pipeline to transport CO₂ to depleted gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay for storage.

UK: Aggregate Industries has commenced civil construction at its new manufacturing facility and import terminal at the Port of Tilbury. This new grinding station and storage facility aims to be fully operational by 2026.

The project will allow the company to supply conventional, low-carbon and circular cementitious materials 24 hours a day from five loading heads, meeting growing demands for sustainable building materials. It includes investments in new plant equipment for manufacturing blended cements and lower carbon cement components, such as ground granulated blast furnace slag and materials from construction demolition.

Peru: Unacem has unveiled its roadmap to 2030, committing to a carbon emissions target of 500kg of CO₂/t of cement by 2030 across all operations, a reduction from the current 607kg/t. The company plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and is investing US$300m to meet these goals.

In 2023, Unacem achieved a CO₂ reduction of 5kg/t of cement and targets a further 6kg/t reduction in 2024, with medium-term goals of 21kg/t and 16kg/t for 2025 and 2026, respectively. The roadmap also includes enhancing thermal efficiency and transitioning to 100% clean energy for its Peruvian operations by 2035.

India: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has decided to continue its partnership with Dalmia Cement, allowing the company to receive an additional 70,000t of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from a temporary transit station at Gadakana. This decision comes as part of ongoing efforts to manage the substantial amount of RDF generated from daily waste processing, according to the New Indian Express.

An official from the civic body said "As the waste-handling site receives around 450t/day of garbage, we have agreed to allow Dalmia to take another 70,000t of waste. Previously, we had signed a contract with the company to send 70,000t of RDF to its Rajgangpur factory for co-processing within nine months. In the last six months, around 50,000t of waste has been sent."

India: The Jaipur Heritage Municipal Corporation has successfully converted around 6000kg of seized single-use plastic into a revenue-generating resource by selling it to cement plants. The plastic was collected over the past three to four months from local markets as part of an anti-plastic campaign, according to the Press Trust of India.

Commissioner Abhishek Surana said "Disposal of the seized single-use plastic was a major issue. We assessed that a supply chain exists in the system and installed refuse derived fuel machines at dumping yards to shred the plastic and sell it to cement manufacturing plants. It has also started generating revenue for the corporation."