Displaying items by tag: Tarmac
UK: Tarmac’s Women in Cement group has held its first networking event with colleagues from across the company’s cement and lime business coming together to discuss key industry challenges and opportunities. The event was attended by team members from the businesses supply chain and logistics, customer service, health and safety and cement plant teams. It included a range of discussion topics and presentations, from personal protective equipment (PPE) and welfare facilities to profiling role models and opportunities to attract more women to pursue careers at Tarmac and in the wider construction industry.
“It has been fantastic to bring together colleagues from across the business to share their experiences and continue our work to collaborate and drive positive change. We’re looking forward to building and broadening activities across Tarmac and continuing to encourage people from all age groups, genders nationalities and ethnicities to be part of the debate and help to define opportunities for development and progress,” said Johanna O’Driscoll, Tarmac’s finance director.
The Women in Cement group is one of a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives across Tarmac. The company has partnered with organisations including the Taylor Bennett Foundation, Skillforce and the Career Transition Partnership, which all focus on supporting people from diverse backgrounds into jobs.
UK: Spain’s Cemengal is supplying a 0.5Mt/yr Plug & Grind Vertical mill to Tarmac’s Dunbar cement plant. Work started in April 2018 and the project is expected to be completed by July 2019. The unit follows the Plug & Grind product line’s modular format and it includes a FLSmidth OK Mill 37.3. The mill will be used to grind clinker at the cement plant although the subsidiary of CRH may also use the mill to grind slag. The order is Cemengal’s first Plug & Grind Vertical in Europe.
Tarmac buys full ownership of ScotAsh
13 October 2017UK: 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.
Tarmac awarded Bronze Corporate Partner status by the Institution of Chemical Engineers
05 September 2017UK: Tarmac has been presented with Bronze Corporate Partner status by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). A presentation was made at the company’s Tunstead cement plant.
The Bronze award from IChemE demonstrates a commitment by Tarmac’s cement and lime business to advance the profession through various activities. A IChemE Accredited Company Training Scheme (ACTS) currently runs from the site, and has five graduates enrolled across the business. The scheme provides engineers with practical skills training relevant to their roles at Tarmac, and puts steps in place in order for them to achieve Chartered Chemical Engineer status.
“We’re delighted to accept this status and absolutely recognise importance of working with organisations with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. We strive across the whole of our business to provide training and development opportunities for our employees, and this is a fantastic opportunity to take this practice a step further with official recognition,” said Mike Eberlin, managing director of Tarmac’s cement and lime business.
UK: Tarmac has started using a small-scale liquid lime delivery vehicle to despatch Kalic and Kalic HS milk of lime consignments to smaller or harder-to-reach locations. The eight-wheeled vehicle can carry up to 18t of milk of lime and its shorter wheelbase makes it much more manoeuvrable than larger carriers. It also comes equipped with metering capabilities and adaptable nozzle to aid delivery. The vehicle will compliment Tarmac’s use of bulk tankers or 1t intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).
“Many of our smaller customers require small but regular deliveries of milk of lime as they often have limited storage available on site. Our new ‘milk round’ allows us to regularly deliver fresh top-ups in lower volume deliveries without customers being restricted to taking small deliveries in IBCs,’ said Tarmac Lime & Powders Logistics Manager Nick Thomas.
Tarmac opens rail facility at Aberthaw Cement Plant
30 November 2016UK: Tarmac’s Aberthaw Cement Plant has opened a rail facility to despatch bulk cement. The rail depot will mean that trains will be used to transport cement in Wales for the first time in over 20 years. The yard is expected to replace 2500 annual truck movements on the local roads. Jane Hutt, the Welsh Assembly Member for Vale of Glamorgan, officially opened the facility.
“Reducing our road movements by 25% is a significant achievement and it puts us in an even better position to supply materials to our customers across Wales and the south west of England in a more sustainable way. The plant has been in operation for over 100 years and we employ 109 people, the majority of whom live within 10 miles of the site, so this development demonstrates our commitment to the Vale of Glamorgan,” said Aberthaw Cement Plant manager, Chris Bradbury.
Tarmac launches new cement packing plant
10 October 2016UK: Tarmac has launched a cement-packing unit at its Tunstead cement plant in Derbyshire. The Haver and Boecker 10-spout Adams 2000 packing plant increases the plant’s packing capacity. The launch takes place on the site’s 50th anniversary of cement production. The plant will manufacture Tarmac’s range of plastic packed and tubbed cement products for merchant and retail customers. The plant will also be used to house the company’s new 12.5kg mixer bags that were launched earlier in 2016.
“This new plant is an exciting development for us. It enhances our existing UK-wide supply capacity, ensuring we continue to offer customers and end users superior packed cement products, service and supply. As a business with a strong culture of innovation, the plant will use some of our most pioneering developments, such as plastic packaging,” said Kevan Greenhalgh, Packed Business Manager for Tarmac’s Cement business.
The plant has created 23 new jobs at Tunstead, which employs around 450 people. It will also offer training opportunities for existing employees, through the use of the packing plant’s automated technology. The plant launch coincides with the recent upgrading of Tunstead’s rail freight infrastructure, part of Tarmac’s strategy to support sustainable delivery of materials, and cut transport CO2 by 10% by 2020.
UK: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved the acquisition by Breedon Aggregates of Hope Construction Materials subject to a sale of selected assets. Breedon has offered to sell 14 ready-mix concrete sites to Tarmac and the Concrete Company, which has been accepted by the CMA. As indicated in Breedon’s announcement on 21 July 2016, it now expects to complete the acquisition of Hope on 1 August 2016.
“The way is now clear for Hope to join us and create the UK’s largest independent construction materials group. It will give us a stronger platform for growth, with a broader geographical footprint, increased scale, an improved product mix, greater financial capacity and a team of highly talented people,” said Breedon’s Chairman, Peter Tom.
With the acquisition of Hope, Breedon Group, as the company will be named from 1 August 2016, Breedon will become the UK’s largest independent construction materials group, with the country’s largest cement plant, around 60 quarries, nearly 30 asphalt plants, approaching 200 ready-mixed concrete plants, some 2100 employees and approximately 750Mt of mineral reserves and resources. The enlarged group’s strategy will be to continue growing organically and through consolidation of the UK heavyside building materials sector.
LEILAC secures Euro12m from European Union to demonstrate Calix carbon capture technology
21 April 2016Europe: The Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement (LEILAC) consortium has secured Euro12m in funding over five years from the European Commission Horizon 2020 Grant programme to test Calix’s direct separation process to capture CO2 emissions from cement and lime production. The consortium comprises HeidelbergCement, Cemex, Tarmac, Lhoist, Amec Foster Wheeler, ECN, Imperial College, PSE, Quantis and the Carbon Trust. The consortium will also contribute a further Euro9m towards the project.
During the first three years, the project will focus on finalising the design of the demonstration plant, to be constructed at the HeidelbergCement plant in Lixhe, Belgium once the necessary permits have been secured. The high temperature Direct Separation Calciner pilot unit will then undergo two years of testing in a standard operational environment, at a feed rate capacity of 240t/day of cement raw meal and 200t/day ground limestone respectively, on a continuous basis for several weeks.
Fundamental research on the process demands and performance will be carried out to demonstrate that the technology works sufficiently and robustly enough to be scaled up to full operational use. The project results will be shared widely with industry at key intervals during the testing.
Calix’s direct separation technology is achieved by re-engineering the process flows used in the best available technology for lime and cement calcination. Carbonate calcination occurs by indirect counterflow heating, and consequentially the flue gases are not mixed with the CO2 emitted from the carbonate minerals. This technology is already operating at a commercial scale for magnesite calcination. It does not require any separation technologies, new materials or processes. The technology is complementary with other carbon capture methods already developed in the power and cement sector, such as oxyfuel, and can make use of alternative fuels.
Martin Riley appointed Senior Vice President of Tarmac
27 January 2016UK: Martin Riley has been appointed Senior Vice President of Tarmac. He will report to Ken McKnight, President Europe Heavyside. Riley was previously Managing Director, Aggregates and Asphalt at Tarmac. The appointment is part of the transition of the businesses acquired from Lafarge Holcim into the European Heavyside business of CRH.
In addition, the Tarmac Cement and Lime business will integrate into a new CRH business cluster consisting of UK Cement, Ireland and Spain, led by Oliver Mahon, Senior Vice President, who will also report to Ken McKnight. As part of this reorganisation the former CEO of Tarmac since 2013, Cyrille Ragoucy, will leave the business.