Mexico: Cemex says that Carbon Trust has validated its roadmap to decarbonise global operations in line with the Sectoral Decarbonisation Approach (SDA) 2-degree scenario (2DS) developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The validated roadmap is intended to help the company to achieve a 35% reduction of net carbon emissions by 2030. The findings validate Cemex's roadmap for reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

The Carbon Trust has assessed the technical feasibility of the plan based on guidelines defined by international institutions including the International Energy Agency, the Cement Sustainability Initiative, and the European Climate Research Alliance. The CO₂ reduction methods include the use of alternative fuels, using decarbonated raw materials, renewable power projects, and novel cements, among others. The validation also included a review of Cemex's commitment to implement the scheme based on governance mechanisms and business planning.

“The magnitude and complexity of change required by a company such as Cemex to decarbonise its global operations is significant. Our assessment provides the organization’s management, investors and stakeholders with an independent validation that its commitments are backed up by sound assumptions and planning,” said Aleyn Smith-Gillespie, Associate Director Advisory at the Carbon Trust.

Austria: Waste processing specialist Lindner has celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for its new headquarters. The company says that the 45,000m² site will also encompass a new “state-of-the-art waste processing technology production plant.” It says that the facility will enable it to better serve the industries that depend on its expertise, including the cement sector. “That’s why it is so important to us to constantly expand this know-how, develop new solutions and systematically prepare and pass on the knowledge gained,” it added.

Germany: HeidelbergCement says that it has supplied concrete for the construction of an 80m² two-storey detached house in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The concrete contains i.tech 3D, a ground sulphoaluminate clinker developed by HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi for use as an additive in concrete for 3D printing. Engineering & Innovation head Jennifer Scheydt said, “The development of a cement-bound material for 3D printing is a major challenge. It should be easy to pump and extrude. It must also quickly develop sufficient load-bearing capacity so that the lower layers do not give out under the load of the upper layers. At the same time, the bond between the layers must be ensured.”

The property, the first of its kind, will consist of three-shelled insulation-filled walls when completed in late 2020.

India: Shree Cement has announced that it plans to establish a US$135m clinker production unit in the state of Chhattisgarh. The company has said that the plant will become operational in mid-2022.

Portugal: Secil Group has engaged Italy-based CTP Team to supply and install a 29MW waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at its 2.0Mt/yr Secil-Outão cement plant in Setúbal, Lisboa Region. Dry Cargo International News has reported that the WHR plant will include a 7.2MW Turboden turbine. CTP Team says that, when operational in mid-2022, the plant will cover 30% of the Secil-Outão cement plant’s electricity consumption, reducing its CO₂ emissions by 14,000t/yr.

CTP Team said, “Thanks to the specific advantages of organic cycles and to the total absence of water treatments in the process, the operating expenditure (OPEX) is 75% lower than for an equivalent steam rankine-based WHR cycle.

Egypt: The board of HeidelbergCement subsidiary Suez Cement has approved the launch of a tender offer for the company to acquire a 100% stake in Egyptian Tourah Portland Cement. Reuters News has reported the value of the deal as US$32.6m.

Pakistan: Asiamoney has named Lucky Cement as most outstanding in the cement producers category of Pakistan’s Most Outstanding Company 2020 following a national poll. The Pakistan Observer newspaper has reported that “the aim of this poll is to identify and give recognition to Asia's most outstanding listed companies in each market and sector.”

UK: Welding Alloys says that it has carried out maintenance on a vertical roller mill at HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson’s 1.0Mt/yr Purfleet slag plant in Essex, repairing the mill’s Loesche 46 2+2S grinding table and rollers. The company said that the mill, which had ground 3500t of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), was “in urgent need of refurbishment.” Following a wear audit, Welding Alloys took the grinding components back to the profile template using its Integra Wire Mill products.

The group said that “both companies overcame the challenges of completing the project within the limited shutdown period while complying with the Covid-19 lockdown measures.”

US: LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim US has rebranded its blended cement and supplementary cementitious materials range as Envirocore. Envirocore products include OneCem Portland limestone cement, MaxCem blended cement and NewCem slag cement.

The company noted that the partial substitution of cement with supplementary cementitious materials “not only results in more durable, high-performance concrete, but also lowers energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. CO₂ emissions are reduced by approximately 800,000kg/t of clinker replaced.” It also called on consumers to “adopt solutions that lower carbon emissions.”

Thailand: King Monkut's University of Technology Thonburi has conducted a cradle-to-grave analysis of the environmental impacts of 1t of cement from neighbouring Myanmar. The study concluded that the cement’s production had major environmental impacts in terms of “climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, fine particular matter formation, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource scarcity, damage to ecosystems and damage to human health. Resultantly, researchers concluded that “some improvement measures should be considered, which include upgrading the cement manufacturing process, increasing the share of clinker substitutes, utilising alternative fuels, optimising energy efficiency and implementing energy recovery technologies."