Displaying items by tag: circular economy
Spain: Cementos Molins has processed 75,000t of waste into alternative raw materials for use in its cement production since opening its Barcelona alternative raw materials plant in September 2022. The plant has a production capacity of 200,000t/yr. It produces the materials from construction and demolition waste and various industrial by-products.
Cementos Molins’ director of corporate development and sustainability, Carlos Martínez, said “Our commitment to the environment is intrinsically linked to our business model, which is based on the development of sustainable and innovative materials.” He continued “We provide a second life to industrial and construction waste that would otherwise end up in landfills, generating high-quality sustainable products from them. The plant has enabled all our cements to incorporate alternative raw materials in their production process. Furthermore, we are working to reduce the carbon footprint of all our concretes, ensuring that, in the short term, all of them include recycled aggregates in their manufacture."
Cemex UK supplies by-pass dust to farmers
24 October 2023UK: Cemex UK says that it has collected 130,000t of by-pass dust (BPD) from its Rugby cement plant in Warwickshire since 2015. The producer supplies the BPD to the agriculture sector, where it can replace traditional fertilisers and lime due to its high lime and potassium content. Additionally, Cemex UK has sponsored research into this and other circular economic uses of BPD, including an on-going study which claimed the Carbon Journey Award at the Eco Innovation North West Awards 2023.
Cemex’s Europe regional head of sustainability Paul Fletcher said “We are very proud of our partnership with Silverwoods and the considerable positive impact their innovation and expertise has had on our ability to reuse BPD for other applications. We believe it leads the way in our industry and presents real potential to be adapted elsewhere across our operations. Not only does it benefit the environment by reducing the amount of materials that need to be disposed of, but it generates a product that has a value for farmers and helps cut the use of traditional materials.” He added “This partnership demonstrates that to deliver true circularity, more industrial by-products, including those from different sectors of the economy, need to be used as secondary resources, rather than primarily be seen as waste. If this is to be achieved, a new perspective is needed to boost circular economy practices, with regulations and permitting supporting this proactively.”
Use of ground granulated blast furnace slag avoided 408Mt of CO2 emissions over 22 years in EU and UK
05 October 2023EU/UK: EUROSLAG says that the use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in cement production in the EU and UK between 2000 and 2022 has generated a cumulative reduction in CO2 emissions of 408Mt. GGBFS replaced 716Mt-worth of raw materials over the period.
EUROSLAG Chair Thomas Reiche said "Resource conservation through secondary raw materials, especially in the construction sector, and lower emissions of climate-damaging CO2, are of outstanding ecological and economic importance. The use of ferrous slags makes an important contribution to this. EUROSLAG is working multilaterally to master the enormous challenges in the coming years, above all the transformation of the steel industry, through research and adjustments to national and European regulations.”
Górażdże Cement to invest Euro261m in carbon capture and waste concrete recycling at Górażdże cement plant
05 October 2023Poland: Górażdże Cement has announced an investment of Euro261m in planned sustainability upgrades to its Górażdże cement plant in Opole Voivodeship, the Polish News Bulletin newspaper has reported. The Heidelberg Materials subsidiary plans to build a carbon capture installation, a green energy source and a facility to recycle construction and demolition waste for use in its cement production.
Tarmac and Cambridge Electric Cement participate in trial melt of Cement 2 Zero carbon neutral cement project
03 October 2023UK: The Cement 2 Zero project has successfully concluded its first trial melt of recovered cement paste in an electric arc furnace at the Materials Processing Institute’s Teesside campus. The project uses the paste as flux for electric steel recycling. Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC) has demonstrated that the ‘slag’ from this process can be ground into fine clinker that, when mixed with gypsum and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), produces net zero CO2 cement. The Cement 2 Zero project to produce CEC’s cement at an industrial scale launched in March 2023, with US$7.85m in funding from UK Research and Innovation. Tarmac will grind the clinker from the project’s trial melts for testing in order to obtain certification and specification as a usable cement product.
UAE: Cemex UAE and UltraTech Cement UAE have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of waste concrete recycling in the UAE, according to Dow Jones Institutional News. The cement producers say that their partnership will help to reduce CO2 emissions from construction, in line with the UAE’s 2050 net zero commitment.
Solidia Technologies patents new synthetic pozzolan
11 September 2023US: Texas-based Solidia Technologies has patented a synthetic pozzolan that may be used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cement production. The product is based on previously low-value materials, including minimally processed oil shales and clay minerals. Solidia Technologies produces the material by various methods, including firing the materials to yield a mix of crystalline components and activatable amorphous phase material. Alternatively, production may also involve the aqueous decomposition of manmade silicates in the presence of CO2.
Lafarge Canada completes first phase ECOCycle Technology pilot at St. Constant cement plant
14 August 2023Canada: Lafarge Canada says that it successfully integrated 10,000t of recycled concrete waste in cement production at its St. Constant cement plant in Quebec using its ECOCycle Technology process. The year-long production trial constituted the first phase of Lafarge Canada’s pilot of ECOCycle Technology. The producer says that the achievement solidifies its leading position in North American circular construction innovation. Waste360 News has reported that concrete constitutes 4Mt (40%) of Canada’s 10Mt annual generation of construction and demolition waste.
President and CEO David Redfern said “By reusing construction and demolition wastes in the production of new building materials, we are reducing waste sent to landfill. Across Lafarge Canada, we’re evaluating any opportunity to decarbonise our operations, and circularity is part of this effort. This pilot is critical to demonstrate that we can effectively repurpose concrete waste, which goes a long way to conserve our naturally occurring resources and loops in construction sustainability - building new from old.”
Australia: Alternative cement and concrete producers have welcomed a new Australian civil engineering standard that allows builders to use reduced-CO2 geopolymer concrete in infrastructure projects. Wagners, which produces Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC), said that the revision has removed on if its key barriers to wider market acceptance. EFC replaces 100% of cement with supplementary cementitious materials, including ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and pulverised fly ash, by virtue of its binder technology. Wagners previously supplied EFC for the London Power Tunnels project in the UK, based on local technical approval-based building codes. The producer now expects a new standard like the Australian one to follow in the EU.
Taiheiyo Cement to dispose of future disaster wastes for Hidaka City and Saitama Prefecture
14 July 2023Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has concluded an agreement to dispose of waste produced by any natural disasters that should occur in Hidaka City and Saitama Prefecture. Under the agreement, Taiheiyo Cement will establish a disposal system with realises the potential of disaster waste as a resource. This will work alongside another recycling programme for conventional wastes. The cement producer says that this will help to build a safe and secure community.