Poland: Lafarge Poland officially opened the Siekierki ash separation plant in July 2018. The unit was developed with local power generation company PGNiG Termika. The plant uses technology from the US’ Separation Technologies, using its proprietry electrostatic process.

The unit converts fly ash into two products: ProAsh containing less than 5% flammable parts and HiCarbon fuel containing about 30 - 50% flammable parts. ProAsh ash is used as a construction product used in cement production, ready-mix concrete and prefabricated construction. HiCarbon is used as a fuel because it contains significant amounts of unburnt carbon and so it can be reused in furnaces.

The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFEP&WM) awarded the project a loan of around Euro9m. PGNiG Termika operates a 2078MW coal-power plant at Siekierki.

UAE: Lafarge Emirates has ordered a Jetflex Plus burner for its Fujairah cement plant from FLSmidth. Thierry Terriere, the plant manager, and Simon Jensen, head of FLSmidth Middle-East, signed the contract.

“As the business has shifted towards using low-cost fuels with high-quality clinker, we have made an ambitious decision and chosen the best option on the market – this next generation burner from FLSmidth," Sohail Qaiser, Process Manager at Lafarge Emirates Cement. He added that the company expects a ‘significant’ change in its fuel mix cost as well as a more sustainable kiln operation.

FLSmidth says that the Jetflex Plus burner is the first to be installed in the LafargeHolcim Group and that the company was selected for procurement and supervision of the installation of it. The burner product has rotatable jet air nozzles allowing for optimal adjustment of the flame as well as the low NOx emissions for various fuel types and operating conditions.

The relationship between the companies dates back to 2007 when FLSmidth built the 7500t/day Fujairah plant for Orascom.

Italy: Cemitaly has been allowed to use slag and ash in cement production at its Taranto plant following an investigation, according to the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper. The former Cementir unit was investigated in 2017 as part of an illegal waste probe that examined whether the Taranto plant purchased ‘illegal’ by-products from Enel and the ILVA steel plant to produce cement.

Spain: Cemex España has submitted a proposal to the local government to extract a total of 15Mt of limestone from its Can Negret quarry near to its Lloseta cement plant in Majorca. The proposal will run until 2032, according to the Ultima Hora newspaper. The company was previously granted a concession at the quarry in 1982.