Displaying items by tag: certification

Russia: The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities has announced that a technical certificate will suffice for new building materials to enter production. Glavgosexpertiza of Russia has said that the maximum period for the issuance of technical certificates for products including fibre and asbestos cement and concrete is five working days. The measures aim to support the construction industry in meeting demand in the new construction season following the coronavirus outbreak. The ministry will review the measure in mid-June 2020.

Russia: Gornozavodskcement has announced that its Akkermann brand cement conforms to the standard for sulphate-resistant CEM-I cement. The Siberian Research Institute of the Cement Industry issued the certificate of conformity to the cement, which contains a ‘unique formulation’ of 100% ordinary Portland cement with special sulphate resistance.

Gornozavodskcement quality director Irina Ilyina said, “The production of this special cement in Perm Territory, where several large transport and industrial facilities are under construction, will significantly reduce transport and procurement costs for builders, as well as improving the quality and durability of products.”

Algeria: The Aïn Touta Cement (SCIMAT) plant near Batna has been awarded two conformity certificates, according to the Ministry of Industry and Mining. The subsidiary of Public Industrial Cement Group of Algeria (GICA) has earned ISO 45001: 2018, relating to the occupational health and safety management system, and ISO 50001: 2018, related to energy management.

Italy: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Italcementi’s Chiaravagna concrete plant in Genoa, Liguria has received international sustainability certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The certificate, rating silver, acknowledges responsibly-sourced concrete across five categories: pre-requisites, management, environmental sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. It aims to validate the entire process chain, from transportation to the recycling of raw materials.

The plant uses CEM-III ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) cement from Italcementi’s Novi Ligure grinding plant in Alessandria, made from clinker from the company’s Calusco d’Adda plant in Bergamo. The cement has specific CO₂ emissions of 500kg/t. It is supplying concrete for the reconstruction of the Morandi Bridge that collapsed in 2018.

Italcementi said, “This result adds to those already achieved by Italcementi and Calcestruzzi in terms of sustainability, such as the new range of Eco.build green concretes capable of meeting the requirements of green procurement, and the availability of the environmental product declaration (EPD) for different types of cement and concrete.”

Norway: Private accreditation body DNVGL has certified Aker Solutions’ 400,000t/yr carbon capture and storage (CCS) system installation at Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Norcem’s 1.2Mt/yr integrated Brevik plant in Telemark as safe. HeidelbergCement Northern Europe director of sustainability and alternative fuels Per Brevik said, “The promising results from pilot testing in Brevik give us confidence that realisation of the full-scale capture plant will be successful. We trust that the project risk related to novel technology elements is low.”

Following an 18-month test of the partial installation, the certification ensures that the full-scale project will receive government funding.

Italy: Italcementi’s integrated Calusco plant near Bergamo has been awarded a Responsible Sourcing Scheme (RSS) certificate for its concrete and related supply chain operations. The certification looks at the entire production process from transportation to recycling raw materials. It is the first cement plant in the Italian subsidiary of HeidelbergCement to obtain the certification.

Italcementi suspended operation at its plants in March 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak due to government decree.

Germany: Schwenk Zement’s 1.2Mt/yr Karlstadt cement plant in Bavaria, 1.0Mt/yr Allmendingen and Mergelstetten cement plants in Baden Württemberg and 0.86Mt/yr Bernburg cement plant in Saxony-Anhalt have all achieved the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC)’s gold certification, enabling the use of their cements in concrete for CSC certified sustainable buildings. Schwenk building consultancy head Werner Rothenbacher said, “Schwenk is committed to sustainable cement production at all locations. More works will follow soon.” In addition to its cement plants, Schwenk operates numerous ready-mix concrete production facilities in Germany.

In 2019 20% of German new-builds were CSC certified.

Tunisia: Carthage Cement has obtained CE marking for its products to help it penetrate the European market. It plans to start a 0.15Mt cement export contract in March 2020.

Ghana: The Department of Trade and Industry has declared a moratorium on the construction of new cement plants in response to a cement surplus on the domestic market. Chamber of Cement Manufacturers executive secretary George Dawson-Ahmoah said that consumption stands at 6.5Mt/yr nationally. Ghana’s eight producers are utilising 50% of an total installed capacity of 12Mt/yr, according to All Africa News. “The government is investigating measures to prevent imports,” said Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. This may involve cement quality certification by the Ghana Standard authority.

US: The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) has awarded Conservation Certificates to Cementos Argos’ 1.5Mt/yr integrated Newberry plant in Florida and 0.6Mt/yr Atlanta grinding plant in Georgia. Cementos Argos has installed a bat roost at the Newberry plant and planted bee and butterfly gardens with bird boxes for year-round resident bluebirds. The company said that the certification signals its ‘long-term commitment to managing quality habitats for wildlife.’