Displaying items by tag: UK

Lafarge UK's release of its 2011 Sustainability Report for its cement business this week presented some bold headline figures. Key statistics for the period covering 2009 - 2011 included a 17% reduction in CO2 emissions through the use of solid recovered fuels (SRF), a 17% reduction in the use of electricity and a 26% cut in emissions to air.

For a European producer this is some positive news in a time of gloom. Looking a little deeper into the report reveals the usual ambiguities that can arise with interpreting statistics. Lafarge UK's fossil fuel consumption actually rose by 9% from 285,000t in 2009 to 311,000t in 2011. CO2 emissions to air rose by 15% from 2.31Mt to 2.65Mt. In terms of emissions per tonne of Portland Cement Equivalent (tPCE), the figures are more encouraging with fossil fuel use decreasing from 87kg/tPCE to 82kg/tPCE (6%) and CO2 emissions remaining stable at 704kg/tPCE. These figures are good considering that Lafarge's production increased from 2009 to 2011 due to construction for the London 2012 Olympics.

As mentioned in Edwin A R Trout's article 'The British cement industry in 2011 and 2012' the move to refuse-derived fuels (RDF) has consistently made the news with projects at several Lafarge plants. RDF use at Lafarge UK plants rose by 48%, from 92,758t in 2009 to 137,143t in 2011. Each of the alternate fuels – tyres, waste-derived liquid fuel, processed sewage pellets (PSP), meat and bone meal, SRF – roughly increased its unit share per tonne of cement produced by 2%.

Lafarge UK is clearly reacting to uncertain input costs and preparing for any further future green taxes. It failed to meet its 2011 target rate for RDF substitution of 31% (it reached 29%) but it has raised the target to 35% for 2012. It is also continuing to secure permits for PSP use at its Dunbar plant and SRF use at its Hope plant, although by the time this is approved Hope may be someone else's facility. However, the key question is, how can Lafarge push alternate fuels? It will be interesting to see how much Lafarge UK's fuel mix can be reduced in cost over the next five years.

UK: Lafarge has marked its 10th year of sustainability reporting in the UK with the release of its 2011/2012 Sustainability Reports.

Lafarge says that it has made significant investment in developing its sustainable credentials. Waste and water consumption have been cut by 92% and 88% respectively in the cement business since reporting began in 2001. The latest reports also show major advances in the reduction of emissions to air, an increase in the amount of material being moved by rail, greater bio-diversity in its landholdings and improvements in health and safety performance.

"Despite the economic downturn and challenging conditions in the construction market in recent years we have continued to invest in, and demonstrate our commitment to sustainability across, our UK businesses," said, the president of Lafarge UK, Dyfrig James.

Key highlights of the 2011 Sustainability Report for Lafarge Cement, which covers the period 2009 - 2011 inclusive in the UK include:

1. A 17% reduction in CO2 emissions through increased usage of sustainable, waste-derived fuels such as waste tyres and solid recovered fuel (SRF) in manufacturing processes.

2. A 17% reduction in the use of electricity driven by the implementation of Lafarge Cement's 'Golden Rules of Energy Management.'

3. A 26% cut in emissions to air in 2011.

4. Major reductions in waste production, with 76% of all non-hazardous waste sent off site now being recycled.

5. Progression in the regeneration of landholdings including granted approval for the creation of a mixed-use community including 500 new homes at the former Northfleet Works.

6. Significant improvements in health and safety performance, including a 31% decline in first aid instances in 2011 and Cookstown Works achieving a global record of 10 years with no Lost-Time Incidents (LTIs).

7. Piloting of independent water footprint assessments at a number of plants to identify ways to increase efficiency of water use.

8. Winning the Environment Agency Water Save Award for the Cauldon Shale Lake Project – the creation of a closed loop water system to recirculate water for gas conditioning and industrial cooling at Cauldon Works.

9. Growth in sales of lower CO2 packed cements from 51% in 2009 to 54% in 2011.

Lafarge also made improvements in its extensive UK ready-mix concrete operations, which saw a 30% reduction in the CO2 emissions resulting from concrete production compared to figures recorded in 1990 and a 16% reduction in CO2/t between 2010 and 2011.

UK: Hanson, the UK subsidiary of HeidelbergCement Group, has announced that it will have to make job losses after a fall in demand. Hanson told its workers that demand for its core products, including asphalt, concrete and cement, had fallen by more than 10% during 2012 and that 2013 is likely to be worse.

The company said that it would have to take steps to balance the size of the business by reducing capacity and bringing overheads into line, moves that would 'inevitably' result in job losses.

An announcement on restructuring proposals will be made by the end of October 2012, with no details available yet on the number of job losses. The GMB union said it feared that hundreds of jobs will be lost.

UK/Lativa: Recycling and resource management company, SITA UK, has signed a three-year contract to supply 180,000t of solid recovered fuel (SRF) to Cemex in Latvia. The fuel will be produced by processing residual commercial waste in a purpose-built facility at Ridham Docks in Kent. Once processed, the SRF material will be used as a fossil-fuel replacement at a Cemex plant in Broceni, southern Latvia.

"We have invested over Euro7.53m developing a new processing facility to produce and bale SRF at Ridham. This brand new, purpose-built facility was commissioned in August 2012 and we are sending our first shipment to Latvia in September 2012," said Andy Hill, head of organics and alternative fuels, at SITA UK.

SITA UK uses residual commercial waste, which has a higher calorific value and lower moisture content than municipal waste. Its facility in Ridham can process up to 50t/hr. The company has a one year trans-frontier shipment permit to export the SRF to Cemex in Latvia.

Earlier in April 2012, SITA UK and Cemex announced their intention to develop two waste recycling plants to produce alternative fuel for Cemex's Rugby plant in Warwickshire. SITA UK, a subsidiary of Suez Environment, is a recycling and resource management company employing over 6000 staff with a turnover in excess of Euro879m/yr.

UK: ANH Refractories Europe is relaunching its range of products for the cement sector. Managing director Peter Rooney said that the aim is to simplify the customer product selection process and drive customer satisfaction.

"This move will help to boost exports with the firm targeting cement manufacturers across Europe, India and the Middle East, as well as the US," said Rooney.

The American-owned refractory products manufacturer has streamlined its range to present a core offering of monolithic, brick and precast refractories. However, the portfolio still retains ANH's signature products. Brands such as Vesta and Versaflow are now readily available from its new distribution hubs outside America.

Key products in the new revised range include both Magnel and Vesta bricks. It further includes Versaflow and Versagun castable and gunmixes such as Versaflow 70C Adtech for discharge and cooler bull nose rings. Another key product is Versaflow 45 Plus for inlet sections, cooler discharge chutes, side walls and tertiary air ducts.

ANH Refractories Europe provides solutions for the full range of cement kiln refractory applications from upper to lower transition zones to preheaters, coolers, tertiary air ducts and burner pipes. Recent deals have seen ANH supplying a range of these products to the Holcim Ste. Genevieve plant, USA HeidelbergCement, Ketton UK and Lafarge, Retznei Austria. The company has recently expanded its sales and engineering teams, including the appointment of Stephan Frank, a senior refractory engineer, hired to drive exports in emerging cement markets including Turkey, Ukraine and India.

UK: Lafarge Cement UK's Cauldon Works in Staffordshire has received recognition for its industry-leading sustainability achievements, which have seen it reach an alternative fuel substitution rate of 50%. The achievement is the latest milestone for the plant, which has been researching, developing and using alternative fuels, mainly processed sewage pellets (PSP) and tyre chips, for a decade.

Its parent company, Lafarge Group, has honoured the works as part of its annual awards. These champion the efforts of employees worldwide who are transforming the way in which products are manufactured. As part of the latest achievement, Lafarge has announced that the Cauldon team was able to run the calciner for a trial 10hr period using just PSP and tyre chips. Cauldon is only the third of Lafarge's 166 production sites across the world to achieve 100% alternative fuel substitution on the calciner for a limited period.

Cauldon Works' optimisation manager, Andy Woodcock, said, "We are aware that environmental legislation across the construction sector will increase in the near future and we want to be sure that we have measures in place to stay at the forefront for environmental performance and delivering sustainably-produced products to our customers. We're pleased to announce this development, which will help us continue to reduce our carbon footprint and reinforce our position as Lafarge UK's flagship works for the use of waste-derived fuels."

According to government advisors cement producers pay more in the UK than other nations for their electricity and it's getting worse.

A Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) report published on Friday 13 July 2012 has shown that firms in the UK will be forced to pay an extra Euro36 in green taxes on top of the market price they pay for every megawatt hour of electricity by 2020 due to climate policies. This compares with Euro22 in Germany, Euro20 in Denmark, Euro19.3 in France and Euro12.7 in China.

As the Mineral Products Association (MPA) put it, "...cement is an internationally traded commodity and, if it costs more to make it here than to import it, then we are threatening a strategic indigenous manufacturing industry for no environmental gain." Or to put it more bluntly, if the cost of importing cement from France to the UK is less than the energy saving then say 'goodbye' to the UK cement industry. The issue raises one of the core problem of any carbon tax in a global economy. If your neighbours don't have the same tax as you then they can undercut you. Similar arguments rage in Australia and the US.

The UK will be the first country with legally binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020, with a pledge to introduce a carbon floor price of Euro19.98/t in 2013. As Edwin Trout explained in his recent article in Global Cement Magazine on the British Cement Industry in 2011 and 2012 the government took steps to address this in November 2011 with a Euro318m package for energy-intensive industries. Unfortunately as the MPA has now pointed out, the cement industry is ineligible for the first Euro140m of this package because the EU has ruled against such support for the sector in relation to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

Unsurprisingly alternative fuels trials are thriving in the UK, such as that at Lafarge UK's Aberthaw plant, which celebrates 100 years of operation this weekend.

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has demanded that the UK government protect the domestic cement industry from rising electricity costs. The comments came in the MPA's response to a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) report has stated that electricity bills for UK manufacturers were higher than other key nations because of environmental regulation.

Commenting on the BIS report the MPA said that the new data confirmed what it had been telling the government since 2011. The MPS added the report clearly shows that the UK cement industry must receive some help if it is to survive and supply the UK's low carbon economy.

"The Government now has the evidence to corroborate the industry evidence," said Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA. "It is time for them to respond and take the action we have been urging them to take for so long and to come forward with their long awaited Energy Intensive Industries Strategy."

The BIS report stated that electricity bills for UK manufacturers were higher than other key nations because of climate change levels. It added that by 2020, green taxes will be double those in other EU nations and many times higher than those in the US. According to the report firms in the UK will be forced to pay an extra Euro36 in green taxes on top of the market price they pay for every MWH of electricity by 2020 due to climate policies. This compares with Euro20 in Denmark, renowned for its renewable energy drive, Euro19.3 in France, Euro22 in Germany, Euro12.7 in China and a fall in the US and Russia.

In its response to the BIS report, the MPA stated that the UK cement industry had reduced its CO2 emissions by 57% since 1990 confirmed its commitment to tackling climate change. It approved of the government's 2011 autumn statement to compensate some energy intensive industries against electricity costs by Euro318m. Yet it also pointed out that the UK cement industry will not qualify for a share of the first Euro140m of this because the EU has ruled against such support for the sector, in relation to indirect costs associated with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

UK: MP for Rushcliffe and UK Government Cabinet member Ken Clarke has visited Lafarge Cement UK's Barnstone cement blending plant in Nottinghamshire to officially open a new state-of-the-art cement packer at the site. As well as significantly increasing the plant's output, the packer will also secure the future of some 60 local jobs and provide a boost to the local economy.

Supplying the local market with a range of 26 ready-to-use cements, Barnstone also exports specialist cements to 27 countries. Over recent years Lafarge has invested Euro8.5m at Barnstone, expanding production facilities, refurbishing offices and improving safety.

Clarke said, "I was very impressed by the professionalism of all (those that) I met at the plant. Lafarge should be congratulated for its most recent investment in the area and I'm proud the company has this site in my constituency."

The Barnstone plant manager Chris Stephens said, "While the (UK) construction industry currently faces real challenges, our new sophisticated packer will support new secured business and provide capacity and flexibility for future business."

UK: ANH Refractories Europe has hired Stefan Frank, a senior engineer with more than 20 years' experience, to drive export sales across Europe.

The senior refractory engineer has joined the Wirral based firm to bolster expertise in the cement sector. He has been charged with kickstarting a new campaign to increase ANH's profile and drive sales in emerging cement markets in countries including Turkey, Ukraine and Italy.

Frank holds more than 20 years' experience in the refractory industry. This has included roles at HeidelbergCement Group's Technology Center in Leimen, Baden-Württemberg, in Germany, and extensive work in the rotary kiln field.

ANH Refractories Europe managing director Peter Rooney said, " The European cement market has been a solid area for sales in the last 12 months and we believe Stefan has the knowledge and skills to build on this."

The American owned firm, which has a US turnover of US$550m, manufactures materials used in linings for furnaces, kilns and incinerators operating at high temperatures. It delivers refractory solutions, services and products to many industries including aluminium, petrochemical, power, incineration, mineral and glass.