Displaying items by tag: community

Germany: Opterra has started a public consultation process about expanding the limestone quarry for its integrated Wössingen cement plant near Walzbachtal in Baden Württemberg. The move follows the plant’s quarry at Lugenberg reaching its approved perimeter to the east. The subsidiary of Ireland-based CRH plans to find a location for a new quarry to open from around 2030. The company also wants to conduct exploratory drilling in the region for additional limestone deposits.

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has announced plans to upgrade cement production at its 0.2Mt/yr integrated Corumbá cement plant in Mato Grosso do Sul. The Correio de Corumbá newspaper has reported the value of the planned work as US$2.85m. The investment is intended to improve the plant’s grinding line, modernise an electrical substation system, make changes to its mining operations and generally focus on optimising energy consumption. It also plans to train employees and work on community outreach activities.

New Zealand: Golden Bay Cement has announced that the second annual Girls in Infrastructure day will take place on 30 March 2021 at its cement plant. The event aims to encourage female secondary school pupils in Northland to consider a career in the infrastructure industry. The company said that attendees will see the day-day-to-day operations of the cement plant, as well as learning about other job opportunities along the supply line of infrastructure building.

Process engineering manager Kelly Stevens said, “Having the event on site at Golden Bay, the students are able to get up close to our operations, as well as talk to our staff directly.”

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas has made donations worth Euro3000 of food and sanitary products to host communities in the neighbourhood of its Alcalá de Guadaíra cement plant in Seville. The company says that the donations are intended to support vulnerable families and groups affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has donated a total of 10 auto rickshaws to cement plant and limestone mine host communities in Akpata, Iwaa, Obajana and Owo. The Nigerian Tribune newspaper has reported that the aim of the donations is to support business and community transportation. Deputy general manager Ademola Adeyemi said that these fall under the company’s corporate social responsibility.

India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement has inaugurated a new school building that it has built in Barunia, Odisha. The Orissa Diary newspaper has reported that the work was part of a US$7690 project which also included the refurbishment of two existing classrooms.

Projects executive directorRamawatar Sharma said, "The access to quality education is a basic human right. As a company, we have always believed in providing opportunities to the best of our capacity and helped in laying the foundation for a better life for everyone. We are optimistic that with the renovation of the school infrastructure, the students will feel motivated to attend classes and continue working towards building a better future for them."

Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement has opened the first of six new 10,000l/day water purification plants under its Fountain of Life programme in Anuradhapura District, North Central Province. The Colomba Gazette newspaper has reported that the area has been affected by a high rate of chronic kidney disease.

Group chairman Harsha Cabral said, "We initiated our far-reaching Fountain of Life programme in support of the government's Water for All programme which aims to provide drinking water facilities to every household by 2025.”

France: HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments Calcia has presented plans of a proposed Euro300m upgrade of its Airvault cement plant in Deux-Sèvres Department to the local community. The La Nouvelle République newspaper has reported that the company will replace the plant’s existing two production lines with a single one. It also plans to upgrade grinding and mixing equipment.

Local mayor Olivier Fouillet said, "In view of its economic, social and environmental character, this project is of public interest. It will help maintain an existing site that provides direct and indirect jobs and will further boost the economy of the territory. This project will also have the interest of meeting societal expectations on decarbonisation . It is thus an asset for the territory while being part of environmental policies to reduce the carbon footprint.” He added that the project will help the plant to meet the decarbonisation and competitiveness challenges of ‘today and tomorrow.’

India: Residents of Haridaspur in Jajpur District, Odisha, launched a protest on 20 January 2020 outside Ramco Cement’s 0.9Mt/yr Haridaspur grinding plant. The New Indian Express has reported that the people allege that the company has fail to delivered promised local jobs. They also accuse it of failing to provide concrete roads, drinking water, healthcare and lighting. The company said that it has yet to receive a memorandum of the protestors’ request.

Ramco Cements commissioned the Haridaspur grinding plant in late 2020.

Romania: Holcim Romania and its subsidiary Somaco have donated around Euro0.95m to local hospitals to help buy equipment to manage the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 20 hospitals in the counties of Alba, Arad, Argeș, Bihor, Buzău, Cluj, Dâmbovița, Iași, Neamț, Prahova, Timiș, Vrancea and Bucharest will benefit from the funds. It will be used to buy protective gear and medical equipment such as medical monitors, ventilators and fans. This latest donation follows one in April 2020 bringing Holcim Romania’s total to around Euro1.5m.