India: Local people have launched a protest outside Wonder Cement's Kherwas grinding plant in Madhya Pradesh. The Free Press Journal has reported that the protestors are requesting that the company provide more jobs to people from the plant's host community. They stated their intent in memoranda submitted to the plant management and the local government. Local rules require companies operating plants in the area to appoint applicants from the local community to 75% of plant jobs.

Wonder Cement is a subsidiary of Rajasthan-based RK Group.

US: Holcim US has inaugurated a waste tyre processing plant at its Alpena cement plant in Michigan. The facility will process 22,000t/yr of tyres into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use at the cement plant. Holcim US partner Geocycle will collect, pre-process and deliver the tyres to the new facility.

Holcim US’ North regional senior vice president of manufacturing Michael Nixon said "Holcim has invested more than US$100m in eco-friendly technologies at the Alpena plant in the past 15 years. The tyre-derived fuel facility is another strong demonstration of our commitment to reducing emissions."

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement Corporation aims to diversify its business away from cement by increasing its sales from energy storage and vehicle charging. It aims to derive over 50% of its revenues from other activities besides cement by 2025. The Taipei Times newspaper has reported that the producer will continue to produce 80Mt/yr of cement. The company said that the reason behind its planned diversification is its responsibility to help reduce global net CO2 emissions.

Chair Nelson Chang said “Carbon reductions must be fast and efficient, and the use of solar and other green energy resources in producing cement is not enough to offset carbon emissions. That means Taiwan Cement has to press ahead and develop carbon capture techniques that would help mitigate the negative impact of cement production on the environment.”

UK: SigmaRoc subsidiary CCP has launched Greenbloc Standard, Ultra and Premium. The new designations correspond to 50%, 80% and 100% cement substitution. Professional Builder News has reported that Using Greenbloc Standard reduces structures’ CO2 emissions by 77% compared with structures built with conventional ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based blocks. For an average semi-detached house, this is equivalent to 2.7t of CO2.

CCP general manager Phil Rotheram said “The expansion of our Greenbloc range continues our commitment to sustainable alternatives to our product offering as we fully commit to the challenges of removing embodied carbon from the built environment.”

Greenbloc Ultra featured in a gold medal-winning garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 in May 2023.

More Articles ...

Subcategories