Displaying items by tag: wood

New Zealand: Fletcher Building subsidiary Golden Bay Cement has co-processed 80,000t of waste in production of its EcoSure reduced-CO₂ general-purpose cement at its Golden Bay, Whangarei, cement plant. The plant has achieved a coal substitution rate of 50%. It has processed various waste streams, including 3 million used tyres. EcoSure cement generates CO₂ emissions of 699kg/t of product, 20% less than its imported alternatives, according to Golden Bay Cement. Fletcher building CEO Nick Traber said that this figure is 'simply our starting point.' The company's next target is to achieve a 30% CO₂ reduction by 2030.

Traber said "We needed to think outside the box, or rather the cement bag to be more precise. The challenge was around what enhancements we could make to our manufacturing processes at our Golden Bay cement works in order to improve the plant's sustainability. We quickly realised that consuming used tyres and wood waste as alternative fuels was a win-win. When we started with the idea in 2015, we were aiming to replace 15% of coal with end-of-life tyres. Fast forward to 2022, and our rate of coal substitution is now at 50%, which has obviously delivered further reductions in carbon emissions, as well as helping to offset increased coal costs."

France: Holcim France has announced its successful industrial-scale production of the world's first 100% recycled clinker. The La Tribune newspaper has reported that the company's Altkirch, Alsace, cement plant produced the clinker. Holcim France chief executive officer Francois Petry said that the plant's team collaborated with researchers at the Holcim Innovation Center to develop a recipe that incorporated multiple waste streams, including mineral wastes and wood ash. The producer says that most of the waste materials were locally sourced.

Denmark: Cement and wood-based acoustic board producer Troldtekt has agreed to a takeover offer from Ireland-based Kingspan Insulation. The producer uses ordinary Portland cement (OPC) produced ‘from Danish mineral resources’ along with shredded Norway spruce to produce its boards.

Kingspan Insulation managing director Alan Lawlor said "I am delighted to welcome Troldtekt to the Kingspan family. As the global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions, we have the capacity to help them expand beyond their core markets, whilst bringing acoustic and decorative boards and natural insulation materials into our portfolio. Troldtekt has been able to continuously innovate and it sets the bar impressively high in the field of the circular economy.” He concluded "We will invest significantly in the company's production facilities to set them up for geographic growth."

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to apply for a licence to substitute alternative fuel (AF) for a part of its coal, gas and petcoke fuel mix. The plant previously held a two-week AF substitution trial in May 2011. CBC News has reported that the subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos will present its plan at an evening meeting for the general public on 18 November 2021. The company says that it plans to implement similar AF arrangements to those at its Bowmanville plant, where it uses 90,000t/yr of biomass, wood from construction and demolition and non-recyclable paper and plastics.

Environmental manager Ruben Plaza said "Lower CO₂ emissions is the first consideration and, equally as important, the material has to be approved and available in sufficient quantities with a reliable and sustainable long-term supply."

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement subsidiary Hachinohe Cement has announced that it will be receiving heavy oil and woodchips from cargo washed ashore from the wreck of a ship at Hachinohe port on 11 August 2021. The company plans to use the waste as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for cement production at its cement Hachinohe cement plant. The company said that the oil spill from the incident has had a great impact on the region. It added “In the future, we would like to actively promote the acceptance of wreckage with heavy oil attached and cooperate in the early resolution of the situation.”

UK: Cemex UK has relaunched its used pallet collection service. The scheme aims to reduce timber waste in its supply chain, according to the company. It forms part of its Future in Action – Committed to Net Zero CO2 climate action strategy. Its partner ELM will collect stockists’ pallets free of charge for refurbishment and return to Cemex UK. It will reuse all repaired pallets and recycle those damaged beyond repair.

Packed cement sales manager Graeme Barton said “We want to make life easier for our merchants to work with us to reduce waste. We’d like to make pallet recovery part of the standard delivery process, as many pallets still end up in landfill. It is increasingly costly to dispose of pallet waste and there is far greater value to be gained by recycling and reuse. Rising timber costs, combined with pallet shortages, means there is a heightened need to conserve and maintain pallets throughout the supply chain. Recovery is considerably more cost effective than buying new replacements.” He added “Pallets are a standard format in transporting building products and contribute a significant financial and environmental cost which needs to be captured by the user. We saw a similar situation with supermarkets and plastic bags, but we’d rather not wait for legislation to enforce this; we’d really like to make a difference now with preventative action. The pallet recovery service is regenerative by design and aims to support the key principals of the circular economy to benefit business, society and the environment. If we all pull together it will have a significant impact across the whole supply chain.”

Germany: Research from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has suggested that wood, including fast-growing bamboo, could supplant 50% of cement and steel used in construction, cutting global CO₂ emissions by up to 880Mt/yr and providing a carbon sink for close to 700Mt/yr of CO2 emissions. Assuming a no-change scenario in cement production practices, PIK fellow Galina Chakina says, ‘the shift to timber would make quite a difference for achieving the climate stabilisation targets of the Paris agreement.’