Displaying items by tag: Refuse Derived Fuel

Israel: The Environmental Protection Ministry (EPM) has granted Nesher-Israel Cement Enterprises a licence to substitute more refuse-derived fuels (RDF) for petcoke than was previously permitted at its 5Mt/yr integrated Ramle, Central District cement plant. The Times of Israel newspaper has reported that the licence also allows for greater metal emissions. The company said, “As is customary in the global cement industry, the Nesher plant in Ramle uses raw materials and alternative fuels, thus achieving a number of environmental goals, including reducing landfill, minimising the use of natural resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Belarus: Krasnoselskstroymaterialy has announced that its US$7.8m refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant at its 1.6Mt/yr Krasnoselskstroymaterialy plant will be completed in September 2020. The plant is installed with equipment worth US$4.5m from Czech suppliers. The Ministry of Construction and Architecture has said that waste from the Grodno Recycling and Mechanical Sorting Plant will replace Belarusian peat and Russian coal as the cement fuel in the plant’s kilns, fulfilling Krasnoselskstroymaterialy’s goals of renewability and national self-reliance.

Ministry of Construction and Architecture energy conservation head Sergey Nikitin said, “The transition to RDF will create an opportunity to reduce the cost of cement production in the future, strengthen the financial and economic situation of the Krasnoselskstroymaterialy enterprise and create additional competitive advantages over producers operating on traditional fossil fuels.”

Sweden: Norway-based Geminor received a batch of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced at its Braunsbedra plant in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany for use at Scandinavian cement plants on 23 April 2020. The shipment was Europe’s first international shipment of RDF by rail, without the use of trucks. Geminor plans for the 110t delivery to be the first of many on the 50,000t-capacity line. Geminor CEO Kjetil Vikingstad said, “Since transport by ship is only effective within a radius of 200km from a port, central Germany becomes a natural starting point for
transport by train. This is the beginning of extensive waste transport by train in
Europe.”

UK: RDF Industry Group has convened a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) industry working group to meet on a fortnightly basis to discuss the sectoral impacts of coronavirus. The Group said that it ‘is working with competent authorities to ensure the free flow of RDF is maintained.’ It acknowledged that RDF supply is essential to European cement production, adding, “The flow of RDF from the UK to off-take facilities in Europe is continuing, with the industry overall functioning well.”

Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has postponed a four-day hearing over Irish Cement’s alternative fuel (AF) licence application, scheduled for May 2020, to an as yet unspecified date due to the coronavirus. Under the terms of the proposed licence, Irish Cement will be able co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), including tyres, in the single dry line of its 1.0Mt/yr Mungret plant in County Limerick. The EPA said that emissions from operations under the terms of the licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The move attracted local resistance, with 4500 people participating in a protest on 5 October 2019.

The EPA has said that it will give all relevant parties notice ‘well in advance’ of the date of the rescheduled hearing, which will take place after the government lifts the country’s coronavirus lockdown. On 14 April 2020 County Limerick had 234 coronavirus cases out of an Irish total of 10,647.

Germany: Red Dot has awarded Vecoplan its Red Dot Design Award for the new Vecoplan VEZ 3200 pre-shredder for refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The prize ‘acknowledges the aesthetics and workmanship’ of the product, as well as its ergonomiocs and functionality. Vecoplan CEO Werner Berens said, “The design impacts on the machine construction, making the shredder easier to handle for operators.”

Spain: Members of the Spanish cement association Oficemen have offered help to the government in the disposal of medical waste contaminated with the coronavirus, for which any kiln line with the right alternative fuel processing capabilities will be made available. Minister for Industry Reyes Maroto said that the plants will be used for waste’s elimination ‘only insofar as companies can continue operating.’

China: Huaxin Cement says that it has disposed of 55t of medical waste from coronavirus-infected hospitals in Wuhan province at its 3.4Mt/yr Yangxin cement plant in Hubei province. Xinhuanet News has reported that the plant’s precalciner and rotary kiln have safely processed the batch, from its delivery in sealed trucks, through the combustion of the waste and its packaging, into cement.

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Corporation (Vicem) and Denmark-based supplier FLSmidth have announced a cooperation agreement with the aim of radically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from cement production and improving air quality. The cooperation will consist of Vicem implementing solutions pioneered by FLSmidth. FLSmidth said that a key focus of the cooperation will be Vicat’s use of ‘municipal and other waste streams as alternative fuel sources,’ with the aim of achieving 100% substitution using FLSmidth solutions, in accordance with FLSmidth’s ambition ‘to enable cement companies to operate with zero emissions by 2030.’

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) Cement’s five members – Breedon Cement, Cemex UK, Hanson Cement, Lafarge Cement and Tarmac – saw their direct CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement rise by 0.6% year-on-year to 633kg in 2018 from 629kg in 2017. Refuse-derived fuel rates in 2018 were 43.2%, down by 0.5% from 43.8Mt in 2017. The industry achieved its seventh consecutive year in which producers sent zero process waste to landfill. Overall sales fell by 1.0% year-on-year.