Africa: Geminor has secured a US$523,000 grant from Norad – the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation – to lead a project to convert non-recyclable plastic waste into solid recovered fuel (SRF) for cement kilns. The project will establish a hub to convert difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into SRF to support decarbonisation and circular economy solutions. The feasibility phase is supported by NORWASTE and Dikubu Water & Environmental Services and will develop defined material specifications, processing standards and supplier requirements while testing fuel performance in cement operations.

According to Geminor, Africa's cement capacity is expected to grow by nearly 77% by 2030, potentially adding 150Mt/yr of CO₂ emissions if fossil fuel dependence continues. Many facilities still rely on coal, and only a limited number of cement plants in Africa are currently equipped to use alternative fuels such as waste-derived fuels, SRF and biomass, though adoption is accelerating in some markets.

Director of innovation & sustainability at Geminor Kirstie Jones-Williams said “This project reflects our broader ambition to strengthen waste management value chains and support more sustainable resource use. As we enter new markets, we know there is a lot to learn, and working closely with local partners will be essential to identifying solutions that are both viable and meaningful. Support from Norad enables us to invest the time and resources needed to explore these opportunities responsibly.”

Tadesse Negash, Africa Project Lead at Geminor, said “We’ve been actively engaging with Norwegian embassies across Africa and are beginning to see where the path forward is becoming clearer. These collaborations help us identify where local conditions, policy frameworks, and industrial readiness align best to support sustainable co-processing of plastic waste."

Spain: Cement consumption in Catalonia rose by 12% year-on-year to 2.40Mt in 2025, while exports fell by 18% to 1.48Mt. Cement plants in the region produced 3.25Mt, down by 5% year-on-year. Ciment Català said cement consumption has remained below 2.5Mt for 14 consecutive years, a low volume relative to the Catalan population, placing per capita consumption at around 300kg of cement per inhabitant per year. It is also 30% lower than the EU average.

Spain: Optimitive has secured a €1m investment from Suma Capital, closing a €5m Series A round in which Cemex Ventures and Titan Group participated as strategic co-investors. The company said the investment will accelerate the global deployment of its technology in industries, including cement.

“The closing of this investment round allows us to accelerate the global deployment of our technology and consolidate our value proposition in industries like cement where every efficiency point counts”, said Fernando de la Prida, CEO of Optimitive.

Optimitive has also launched OPTIBAT® 7, a new version of its real-time optimisation software designed as an industrial platform for the cement industry. The company said that the software uses closed-loop artificial intelligence to optimise processes autonomously, reduce energy consumption, increase productivity and reduce CO₂ emissions.

North Korea: The Sangwon Cement Complex carried out its daily production plan through ‘sci-tech activities’ to increase production in quality and quantity, according to Korean News. The Sunchon Cement Complex produced more than 1000t of additional cement in February 2026. The Chonnaeri Cement plant increased the operation rate of equipment to boost productivity, while the Sunghori Cement plant and the Manpho August 2 cement plant ‘improved technical control’ to increase production through a mass movement.