Displaying items by tag: Recycling

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has announced the launch of EcoLabel, a brand to encapsulate its green cements and concretes. All products bearing the label must have either a 30% lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) footprint compared to the local industry standard or use 20% recycled content. The company says that the reason behind EcoLabel is to “support builders in making greener choices” and to “accelerate the company’s Net Zero Journey.”

Chief sustainability officer Magali Anderson said, “I am very proud of how our company is turning our net zero pledge into action across more than 70 countries, with our broad range of green building solutions. The EcoLabel is a key milestone on this journey, confirming LafargeHolcim’s commitment to lead the way in sustainability and innovation.”

Canada: Lafarge Canada, Geocycle Canada and Rio Tinto are working together to reuse waste from the aluminium smelting process to make cement. The three companies have developed a new product called Alextra, made from used potlining, as part of the aluminium electrolysis process that would otherwise go to landfill. Lafarge Canada plans to produce on average 1Mt/yr of cement at its plant in Bath, Ontario, using Alextra as an alternative to raw materials such as alumina and silica. The companies will also explore options to further expand the supply of Alextra from Rio Tinto’s Potlining Treatment Plant in Saguenay-Lac-St Jean to Lafarge Canada's network of cement plants.

"This partnership shows how Rio Tinto is innovating to find new ways to reuse waste, generating value from our operations and reducing their environmental footprint,” said Rio Tinto Aluminium manager valorisation and marketing Stéphane Poirier. “We have worked closely with Lafarge Canada and Geocycle Canada over the past two years to develop a product that meets their needs and look forward to building on this partnership,”

India: The city corporation of Mysore, Karnataka and non-governmental organisation (NGO) Susthira have announced plans to set up a waste building materials recycling plant. The Projects Today newspaper has reported that the corporation has purchased a 20,000m2 site in the suburb of Kuppalur on which for Susthira to build and operate the plant, which will process waste cement slabs and concrete bricks from construction and demolition sites.

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.

In case you missed it, last week we covered a news story about Taiheiyo Cement’s plans to step up its lithium-ion battery recycling business at its integrated Tsuruga plant. It’s the latest step in the Japan-based cement producer’s collaboration with recycling company Matsuda Sangyo. The work is timely given that electric cars accounted for 2.6% of global car sales in 2019 and this share is growing. Many of these electric vehicles use lithium-ion batteries and moving away from fossil fuel powered transport creates new problems such as how to manage old batteries that can no longer be used.

Figure 1: Lithium-ion battery recycling process by Taiheiyo Cement and Matsuda Sangyo. Source: Translated from Taiheiyo Cement CEMS technical magazine.

Taiheiyo Cement and Matsuda Sangyo have been working on their process since 2011. First, they dismantle the batteries to extract base metals and plastics. They then heat the batteries in a dedicated ‘roaster’ using waste heat from the cement production process, before crushing and sorting them to remove cobalt, lithium, aluminium and scrap iron. Hydrogen fluoride produced in this stage is sent to the kiln where it is detoxified by calcium. Remaining elements from the battery that are not reclaimed are then used as an alternative fuel by the cement plant.

Taiheiyo Cement says that its roasting equipment can process up to 10t/day but it’s difficult at this stage to assess what demand for this service they might encounter. If, one estimate of 2m/yr used lithium-ion batteries by 2030 is correct and Taiheiyo Cement’s processing rate doesn’t get much higher, then 500 cement plants could possibly solve this problem. Yet, Taiheiyo Cement and Matsuda Sangyo have made no mention of the economics of their process. Other recycling methods also exist and research into new ones is ongoing. Cement plants recycling batteries might be economic compared to these alternatives or it might not, only time will tell.

The wider point here is that here is yet another industrial and logistical process that can potentially be linked to cement production. It follows well known ones, such as using alternatives fuels or captive power plants, or more novel ones, such as CO₂ or hydrogen networks. In each case the business of making cement changes as new methods are learned, new commodities are sought and new markets are connected. The cement company then has a choice about how involved it wants to become with each new process. The classic example here is the waste processing companies that surround co-processing, with some cement companies having their own dedicated subsidiaries, for example LafargeHolcim and Geocycle.

As it all becomes more complicated the role of a cement plant slowly becomes redefined. If a cement plant disposes of municipal waste and car batteries for its local community, generates electricity from its solar or wind plant for a nearby city and uses its CO₂ to either produce biofuels, plastics or baking soda is it still just a cement plant? The pivot by building materials manufacturers in recent years from a focus on cement to concrete suggests that once the societal or economic conditions are right it could change. For the time being cement plants remain cement plants but give it a thought next time you buy a new car.

Japan: Taiheiyo Cement is starting large-scale recycling of large lithium-ion batteries at its integrated Tsuruga plant. It has been developing the process with Matsuda Sangyo since 2011 using exhaust gases from clinker production as part of dismantling, crushing and sorting processes to extract precious metals from the batteries. Taiheiyo Cement, its subsidiary Tsuruga Cement and Matsuda Sangyo started a recycling business in April 2020 following certification by the Japan Auto Recycling Partnership (JARP).

Germany: Vecoplan has said that it will host 360-Degree Days, an exclusive live presentation from its technology centre, from 27 - 29 May 2020. It says that the event is aimed at filling the void left by the cancellation of IFAT 2020, which would have covered waste and raw materials management, due to the coronavirus outbreak. Vecoplan said, “Participants will learn all about recycling and processing technology, subdivided into several topic areas. Details on the content will be announced closer to the time.”

Colombia: Cementos Argos has announced that its Green Bags initiative has seen the production of over 5 million bags from recycled paper, of which 808t was saved from going to waste. Cementos Argos supply chain manager David Restrepo that the initiative provides an alternative to ‘the felling of over 8000 trees and use of 64,000m³ of water, the equivalent of 26 Olympic swimming pools.’

US: Bulk Handling Systems (NHS) has appointed Matthias Erdmannsdoerfer as managing director of Max-AI. Prior to this new role, Erdmannsdoerfer worked for more than six years as the president of National Recovery Technologies (NRT), a developer of optical sorting technology and subsidiary of BHS. In his new role Erdmannsdoerfer will be responsible for the Max-AI product line including sales, business development and product and application development.

Launched by BHS in 2017, Max-AI technology powers robotic sorters, optical sorters and reporting systems, and will continue to be integrated into new and existing equipment throughout material recovery facilities (MRFs). Since its inception, more than 50 Max-AI AQC (Autonomous Quality Control) robotic sorters have been sold in quality control (QC) applications of both fibre and containers.

Colombia: Cementos Argos has set up a subsidiary, Granulados Reciclados de Colombia (Greco), to recycle construction material waste. The new company’s operations will be based at its Cota plant in Cundinamarca, according to La Republica newspaper. The operation is expected to process over 1Mt/yr of construction waste material. The company is a joint operation with local industrial conglomerate Fanalca and South Korean lighting equipment manufacturer Daeyang.