Displaying items by tag: Environment

Austria: Scheuch Group says that it completed its 2016 – 2017 fiscal year with an order intake over Euro200m, it’s highest incoming order value ever since the company was founded in 1963. The air and environmental engineering company intends to set up a branch office in Germany concentrating on the metal industry and to strengthen the links between its two new subsidiaries in the US.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has announced the winners of its Chairman’s Safety Performance, Safety Innovation and Energy and Environment Awards. The awards recognise outstanding safety performance in the manufacturing of Portland cement, creative safety-enhancing projects in the cement industry and outstanding environmental and community relations respectively.

“The facilities recognised today are to be congratulated for their safety achievements,” said Allen Hamblen, PCA chairman and president and chief executive officer of CalPortland, in relation to the Safety Performance Awards.

Winners of the 2017 PCA Chairman’s Safety Performance Awards:

Category: Less than 226,000 hours
Buzzi Unicem USA – Chattanooga, Tennessee
LafargeHolcim US – Morgan, Utah
Lehigh Hanson, Inc. – Tehachapi, California

Category: 226,001 - 289,000 hours
Ash Grove Cement – Foreman, Arkansas
GCC Permian – Odessa, Texas
Lehigh Hanson, Inc. – Leeds, Alabama

Category: 289,001 - 563,000 hours
Cemex USA – Brooksville, Florida
Cemex USA – New Braunfels, Texas
Martin Marietta Materials – New Braunfels, Texas

Winners of the 2017 Safety Innovation Awards:

Milling/Grinding
Ash Grove Cement, Montana City, Montana

Pyroprocessing
Cemex USA, Balcones, Texas

Distribution
CalPortland Cement Terminal, Portland, Oregon
LafargeHolcim US, Corporate Program, Chicago

Winners of the 2017 Energy and Environment Awards:

Energy Efficiency
Cemex USA Construction Materials, Pacific, LLC, Victorville, California

Environmental Performance
Cemex USA Construction Materials, Pacific, LLC, Victorville, California

Land Stewardship
Continental Cement Company/Green America Recycling, Hannibal, Missouri

Outreach Winner
Mitsubishi Cement Corporation, Lucerne Valley, California

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia plans to start commercial operation of its Rembang cement plant in the first half of 2017. Rizkan Chandra, the chief executive, of the state-owned cement producer revealed the company’s plans, despite protests on environmental grounds by local residents, after a meeting with presidential staff in Jakarta, according to the Antara news agency. However the plant is waiting for environmental clearance that is expected to be released in April 2017. Previously a government minister said that the President Joko Widodo was expected to inaugurate the plant in mid-2017. However, in October 2016 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the protesters and ordered Semen Indonesia to cease its activities.

Colombia: Cemex Latam, the Latin American subsidiary of Cemex, intends to operate its Maceo cement plant project in Antioquia at a reduced capacity due to difficulties with its environmental clearance. The cement producer will continue building the 0.95Mt/yr plant but it will reduce its output to 0.25Mt/yr once it is operational, according to Reuters. The Colombian cement producer attempted to reverse the annulment of its environmental permits with the local body in late 2016.

In September 2016 Cemex fired several senior staff members in relation to the Maceo project and its subsidiary’s chief executive resigned. This followed an internal audit and investigation into payments worth around US$20.5m made to a non-governmental third party in connection with the acquisition of the land, mining rights, and benefits of the tax free zone for the project.

Indonesia: State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno says that President Joko Widodo is expected to inaugurate Semen Indonesia’s Rembang cement plant in April 2017. Soemarno made the comments following a visit to the plant, according to the Jakarta Post. The inauguration of the plant is dependent on environmental clearance, which should be completed in April 2017. However, the plant has been the focus of intense protests by local farmers and both the Supreme Court and a local government ruled to shut down the plant.

Philippines: The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has issued show cause orders against two cement projects. Orders were issued to the Mindanao Portland Cement Corporation and the Pozzolan and the Associate Minerals Cement Plant, as well as to nine other mining companies, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said that these companies should explain within seven days why fines should not be issued and environmental compliance certificates cancelled. The initiative is part of a review of environmental certificates issues by previous administrations.

Mexico: The Cruz Azul Cooperative plans to spend US$300m towards upgrades at its four cement plants. The investment will form part of a modernisation project over the next four years, according to CNN Expansión. The initiative will involve updating older production lines with environmental upgrades, expanding its production capacity for export and generating energy from wind power.

India: LafargeHolcim has received environment clearance to raise the production capacity of its Nongtrai limestone mine in Meghalaya to 5Mt/yr from 2Mt/yr for US$28m. The mine is operated by Lafarge Umiam Mining, a subsidiary of Lafarge Surma Cement, according to the Press Trust of India. Limestone from the mine is transported across the border to Lafarge Surma Cement’s plant in Bangladesh. The increased limestone is expected to increase the production capacity at the plant to 5.5Mt/yr from 2.2Mt/yr.

The mine expansion project is subject to final outcomes of cases pending before Supreme Court, High Court and National Green Tribunal. LafargeHolcim’s subsidiaries have also been asked to obtain clearance from the National Board of Wildlife and the State Pollution Control Board.

Colombia: Cemex Latam, the Latin American subsidiary of Cemex, intends to enter dialogue with the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (Corantioquia) to revoke its environmental permit for Maceo cement plant project. Corantioquia has requested that the permit from Central de Mezclas, a subsidiary of CHL, be returned to the CI Calizas y Minerales, according to the El Colombiano newspaper. The government agency has removed the clearance on procedural grounds and over the mining rights in the area.

US: Cemex USA’s Victorville cement plant in California has been awarded Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) Conservation Certification for work towards sustainability, environmental-protection and land-stewardship. The WHC presented the Victorville plant with the certification on 3 November 2016 during a ceremony at the 2016 WHC Conservation Conference in Baltimore. The designation means that all Cemex USA’s cement plants are now WHC-certified. WHC focuses on healthy ecosystems and connected communities. Cemex now has 18 WHC-certified sites in North America, of which fifteen are in the US

Cemex’s WHC Conservation Certification programs are mainly focused on habitat restoration and sustainability. In 2013, two wind turbines were commissioned at the Victorville plant. The plant also earned its fifth Energy Star certification earlier in 2016 for reducing its energy use and environmental impact and the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District awarded Cemex USA’s Victorville plant operation the 2015/2016 Exemplar Award.

"This plant has persevered through good times and bad: two world wars, three different owners and countless upgrades to its facilities and equipment. Through all of the changes, two things have remained constant: a commitment to safety and a commitment to producing a high-quality product," said Hugo Bolio, Cemex USA’s Executive Vice President of Cement Operations and Technology. The Victorville Cement Plant was established in 1916 and was upgraded in 1997 and 2001. It has a production capacity of 3Mt/yr.