Displaying items by tag: Waste

Switzerland: Holcim recorded net sales of US$6.75bn in the first quarter of 2022, up by 20% year-on-year from US$5.62bn in the first quarter of 2021. The group’s recurring earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBIT) rose by 16% to US$643m from US$553m. The company has upgraded its outlook 2022 to a forecast of full-year net sales growth of at least 10%.

CEO Jan Jenisch said “I am very encouraged by the record start of the year, setting a solid foundation to our Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth.”

The first quarter of 2022 brought four new bolt-on acquisitions in addition to the group’s conclusion of its US$1.35bn Malarkey Roofing Products acquisition. The company says that it remains actively engaged in supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Holcim has also published its industry-first Climate Report 2022. The report details the company’s progress towards achieving its sustainability targets under the four pillars of its Strategy 2025 – Accelerating Green Growth. Under the Accelerating Growth pillar, Holcim reached a total of 15 markets with its ECOPlanet reduced-CO₂ cement range. Under Expanding Solutions & Products, it reduced the proportion of cement sales in its consolidated sales to 57% in 2021 from 60% in 2020. Its other pillars are Leading in Innovation and Sustainability and Delivering Superior Performance. In 2021, the company used 6.6Mt of recycled construction and demolition waste in its products, against a 2050 target of 10Mt.

Chief sustainability and innovation officer Magali Anderson said “On our net-zero journey, we are walking the talk at Holcim, taking clear science-driven action to win the race for climate.”

France: CRH subsidiary Eqiom has successfully commissioned its Gennevilliers construction waste recycling pilot plant. Prior to the plant’s opening, Eqiom recycled 10,000t of construction waste in the first quarter of 2022. It is now aiming to recycle 50,000t in 2022.

The company says that its continual efforts are making the circular economy possible in the construction sector.

Mexico: Cemex has published its 2021 Integrated Report. Under the report’s Climate Action section, Cemex recorded a 4.7% year-on-year decrease in its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious material. Alternative fuel (AF) substitution rose to 29%, while its products’ average clinker factor fell to 75%. It was the first company to complete a global roll-out of its reduced-CO₂ cement and concrete range (Vertua). It established Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-verified well below 2°C 2030 climate action goals and joined the UN’s Race to Zero and the Business Ambition for 1.5°C coalition. It also became a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition for zero-carbon economic development.

The year also brought major Sustainability and Circular Economy milestones, including managing 57 times the volume of waste it sent to landfill, positively impacting 25m lives through its Social Impact Strategy and processing 61% of global sales through its Cemex Go digital sales platform. For the second consecutive year, its Net Promotor Score was 68, ‘substantially above’ the construction and engineering industry average.

Finland: Betolar has signed a letter of intent with Australia-based RISAB and the Vanadium Recovery Project to research the use of steel slag from which vanadium has been extracted in concrete production. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that the company says that, through it Geoprime alkali-activated additive technology, the new slag source could replace 10% of the cement used in concrete production in Finland.

CEO Matti Löppönen said "We see a huge opportunity for Betolar here. If successful, we would be able to offer our customers a specific, currently unused slag of the steel industry to replace cement in concrete. Our customers already have experience in utilising other types of slag in the production of concrete using Geoprime. Utilising new side streams will expand the reach of our solution as planned.”

Betolar launched Geoprime in September 2021. It is currently developing a recipe-optimising artificial intelligence (AI) and data platform to bring together concrete producers and suppliers of slag, ash and other materials.

Greece: Titan Cement recorded Euro1.71bn in net sales in 2021, up by 6.7% year-on-year from Euro1.61bn in 2020. The company attributed the boost to higher demand and ‘supportive pricing’ in all of its regions. Cement sales volumes were 18.3Mt, up by 7% year-on-year from 17.1Mt. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 4.6% to Euro272m from Euro286m, due to an ‘unprecedented’ second-half costs increase. The group’s net profit was Euro89.6m, compared to Euro1.1m in 2020. During the year, Titan Cement increased the digitisation of its cement production and continued its on-going share buyback programme. Its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions declined by 4% year-on-year, in line with its 2030 target trajectory.

Titan Cement said “Having already achieved the 2025 targets for energy efficiency and zero waste-to-landfill certification, the group’s attention is now focused on empowering business ecosystems to incorporate sustainability considerations in their decision making. To ensure that key suppliers meet the group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, Titan Cement developed a sustainable supply chain roadmap and published the first Titan Group Procurement Policy.” In the coming year, the group plans to ‘continue to harness the advantages offered by decarbonisation, digital transformation and business model innovation to benefit our customers, employees, suppliers and communities, aspiring to deliver to society carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.’

Philippines: The government’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau has called on cement producers to maximise their use of waste plastic as a raw material in cement production. Philippines News Agency has reported that bureau director William Cuñado estimated that the measures would bring about a 40 – 60% drop in national plastic waste generation. He said that local government has a part to play in arranging the requisite municipal solid waste (MSW) practices.

Honduras: Cementos Argos plans to expand the production capacity of its 1Mt/yr Piedras Azules cement plant by 35%. The plan is part of a group of planned projects, including solar power and alternative fuels, with a total investment value of US$23m. The company expects to complete all of the work before 2024. It says that the expanded operations will generate 500 new direct job opportunities.

The company will increase its energy supply from the Comayagua solar power plant to 25% of the plant’s requirements from 20% at present. It will also establish a new 1.2MW solar power plant at Río Blanquito. The cement producer will also strengthen its industrial waste co-processing operations with the aim of achieving 12% refuse-derived fuel (RDF) substitution rate by 2030, the equivalent of 5500t/yr. If reached, this will reduce the company’s carbon footprint in the country by 14%.

Chief executive officer (CEO) Luis Eduardo Tovar said "This investment is a vote of confidence of Argos in Honduras and represents our commitment to the country's economic reactivation and our firm determination to contribute to the consolidation of prosperous and sustainable communities based on competitive and visionary initiatives.” He continued “We will continue our efforts to promote the development of Honduran families through the creation of social value at a national level."

UK: Innovative Ash Solutions has received a Euro588m Scottish government grant to establish a 20,000t/yr ash processing plant in South Lanarkshire. The Herald newpaper has reported that the plant will process boiler ash, cyclone ash and incineration fly ash for use in local cement production. When commissioned in 2022, the plant will eliminate 6104t/yr of CO₂ emissions, according to the operator. The government granted the funding under its Zero Waste Scotland circular economic investment scheme.

The company said “Using this new patented process, which diverts waste materials from landfill and avoids the use of virgin sand, creates a product which is cheaper and will reduce the environmental impact of cement production compared to the use of imported pulverised fuel ash.”

Innovative Ash Solutions is a joint venture of waste management company Levenseat and consultancy Organic Innovative Solutions.

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement has secured an agreement with Hyogo Prefecture for the future reception and processing of the prefecture’s waste from disasters such as earthquakes. The company says that the agreement will facilitate the rapid reception of such materials and to best support clean-up efforts.

President Hironori Morohashi said “We will continue to strengthen our cooperative relationship with Hyogo Prefecture and work to form a sustainable society and develop and improve the region.”

US: Charah Solutions has signed a contract with Associated Electric Cooperative (AECI) to receive bottom ash, fly ash and boiler slag from its Thomas Hill Energy Center coal-fired power plant in Missouri until 2026. Charah Solutions will recycle the by-products to produce supplementary cementitious products and redistribute these through its MultiSource materials network. The network consists of 40 locations across the US.

President and CEO Scott Sewell said "We are delighted to partner with AECI to manage their ash marketing needs at Thomas Hill while supplying our concrete producers with the high-quality material they need."