Spain: Brazil-based Votorantim Cementos’ Spanish subsidiary Cementos Cosmos celebrated seven years, equating to 540,000 working hours, without injury at its 0.9Mt/yr integrated Córdoba cement plant in Andalusia on 15 January 2019. Cementos Cosmos Córdoba plant manager José de la Vega said, “This reflects the initiatives that the company has put in place to promote the safety of the workforce.”

India: Mangalam Cement has completed the installation of a 5.15MW WHR plant at its 1.0Mt/yr Morak cement plant in Adityanagar, Rajasthan. Accord Fintech newspaper has reported that a further 5.85MW expansion to the power plant will be commissioned in early 2020.

Liberia: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Cemenco has commissioned a 0.3Mt/yr cement plant in Liberia following an investment of US$14m. The Daily Observer newspaper has reported that the plant is equipped with a 2000t silo, bulk truck unloading equipment and a bagging line, in addition to four Samson Eco Hoppers for dust-free delivery in the Port of Monrovia. Cemenco already operates a 0.8Mt/yr grinding plant on Bushroda Island in Monrovia.

Germany: A Zollernalb, Baden-Württemberg resident who mounted legal action against Tübingen Council in June 2019 over LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim Süddeutschland’s use of waste glass in cement production at its 1.1Mt/yr integrated Dotternhausen plant has submitted ‘extensive reasoning’ for the challenge. The Schwarzwälder Bote has reported that Holcim Süddeutschland allegedly did not complete the proper tests before introducing glass to cement production at Dotternhausen in late 2017. The claimant ‘noticed a rise in heavy metal levels.’

At a subsequent council meeting, a Holcim Süddeutschland employee bore witness to the presence of a defective bag filter. By receiving glass ground to grains of a certain fineness, the claimant alleges that Holcim Süddeutschland was able to bypass federal waste regulations necessitating contaminant checks. They said the company was ‘taking citizens for idiots.’