Displaying items by tag: Italy

Italy: The Italian cement and concrete association Federbeton says that investments in sustainable technologies in domestic cement production totalled Euro110m between 2017 and 2019, reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by 311,000t in 2019 alone, up by 12% year-on-year from 278,000t in 2018. An increased alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate of 6.7% in 2019 contributed to the reduction, up by 0.7% from 6.6%. Producers’ full-year alternative fuels consumption was 1.6Mt.

Italy: Waste management company Entsorga has offered a prototype near infrared technology (NIR) separator to the Saturno research project into manufacturing organic waste and CO₂ into biofuels, bio-fertilisers and biochemicals. The scheme brings together 25 partner organisations, including cement manufacturer Buzzi Unicem. The prototype sorter will be used by Gaia, a waste management company based in the Province of Asti, to sort residual plastics and to remove polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fractions with higher chlorine content. Plastics that cannot be reused will then be passed to cement plants as an alternative fuel.

Hungary: Italy-based Entsorga has completed the installation of an automated alternative fuel (AF) line at a Hungarian cement plant. The plant is believed to be Nostra Cement’s 1.0Mt/yr integrated Kiralyegyháza cement plant, which in early 2020 received an AF fuel store expansion aimed at bringing AF substitution rates to 80% from 60%. The upgrade consists of an Entsorga Spider crane and Pelican power system which will be able to maintain a continuous feed to the plant’s calcination system 24 hours a day.

Entsorga CEO Francesco Galanzino said, “Bringing a commission to a successful conclusion in the middle of the maximum intensity period of the coronavirus crisis has been a great satisfaction. The cement plant will make significant savings in CO₂ emissions.”

US: Italy-based Buzzi-Unicem subsidiary Alamo Cement Company has signed a contract with Italy-based renewable power supply expert Renergetica for the construction of a solar power plant at its 1.1Mt/yr integrated Plant 1604 cement plant in San Antonio, Texas. Renewables Now News has reported that the plant will have a capacity of 10MW.

Russia: Italy-based Buzzi UniCem subsidiary SLK Cement has concluded an environmental agreement with the Sverdlovsk Oblast Ministry of Energy and Housing and Communal Services for the co-processing of solid municipal waste at its 1.0Mt/yr Sukholozhskcement plant. AMF Online News has reported that the transition, part of a nationwide government initiative called simply ‘Ecology,’ entails a modernisation of the kiln line, which the company says will be commissioned in 2023 or 2024. SLK Cement general director Andrei Immoreev said that alternative fuels use will not only increase production efficiency, but will also contribute to solving the environmental problems of the region.”

Italy: Geminor began exporting refuse-derived fuel (RDF) by freight train from its RDF-processing plant in Naples to Aalborg Portland Cement’s 2.1Mt/yr Rørdal integrated cement plant in October 2019. Geminor Germany and Italy Country Manager Andreas Hefler stated that the conveyance of 10,000t/yr of RDF in trainloads of 400t, though not significantly time-saving, represented an efficient and sustainable alternative to shipping and trailers. “We hope that others in the waste industry follow suit in transporting by electric train,” said Hefler.

Italy: Federbeton, the Italian cement and concrete producers’ association, has complained of ‘bureaucratic and regulatory’ obstacles causing Italy to lag behind other European countries in its use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in cement production. Statistics from the Italian Technical and Economic Cement Association (AITEC) show a net AFD substitution of 0.39Mt in 2018, corresponding to 20% of cement fuels burned in Italy. This represents a year-on-year increase of 2.4% from 0.38Mt (17%) in 2017, but lags behind the European annual average of 46%. Peak substitution was in neighbouring Austria, where 79% of cement fuel was refuse-derived. “Our investments in environmental technologies are bearing fruit,” said Antonio Buzzi, coordinator of Federbeton’s Environment and Circular Economy Committee. “We are ready to use larger quantities of alternative raw materials, but continue to pay for these obstacles.”

ANSA has reported that in 2018, Italian cement producers achieved a year-on-year decrease in net CO₂ emissions of 8.9%. Dust levels also decreased by 15.4% compared to 2017.

Denmark: Norway’s Geminor has signed a deal with Danish energy producer AffaldPlus to deliver 150,000t of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for three years from January 2020. Geminor will deliver 50,000t/yr of RDF sourced from countries such as the UK, Italy and Germany. The logistics will mainly consist of bulk shipments but also train and road transport. No value for the order has been disclosed.

AffaldPlus is owned by six municipalities on the island of Sjælland. In addition to receiving and handling waste from the municipalities, AffaldPlus produces electricity and district heating at its plant in Næstved. Geminor will deliver about a third of the total annual secondary fuels burned in the incinerator at AffaldPlus.

Belarus/Hungary/US: Italy’s Entsorga is working on alternative fuel projects for cement plants in the US, Belarus and Hungary. In the US it has signed a contract to supply a Pelican feed line at Argos Cement’s Martinsburg plant in West Virginia. It follows a long-term off take agreement in place with the cement producer to supply alternative fuels. The 60,000t/yr feed station is similar to a feed station already delivered in 2016 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

In Belarus the waste engineering company plans to install an alternative fuel feed line at the Krasno cement plant. Local subsidiary EntsorgaFin will define the material acceptance standards and provide the design for the fuel feed station and feed line.

In Hungary Entsorga was awarded a contract for the supply of an alternative fuels automated handling and feeding system in January 2019 with an unnamed global cement producer. It will provide its Spider and Pelican products to the end user. Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for early 2020.

US: BioHiTech Global started operations at a waste treatment plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia in March 2019. It has completed the first phase of plant commissioning including the facility's reception area, overhead bridge cranes, and its primary mechanical sorting equipment. It has begun the next phase of plant commissioning and progressing operations, which includes receiving limited amounts of waste and beginning runs of its mechanical and biological treatment process for producing solid recovered fuel (SRF). The limited processing runs are expected to result in the production of SRF in the coming weeks with the facility reaching full operations in the second quarter of 2019. The unit uses Entsorga Italia’s proprietary high efficiency mechanical and biological treatment process (HEBIOT)

The majority of the waste, to be delivered as feedstock to the facility, is covered under a ten year agreement with a local waste hauler owned by Gold Medal Group, a regional waste management services company. The SRF will be supplied to cement producer Argos USA under a similar ten-year deal.

"The initiation of revenue generating operations at this first facility of its kind in the US is a pivotal moment for our company and an important step forward in the movement to lessen the environmental impact of waste management,” said Frank E Celli, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BioHiTech Global.

BioHiTech is the largest owner of the Martinsburg SRF plant through a majority owned subsidiary company with a 78% controlling interest in its operations. Gold Medal Group owns the remaining minority stake in the subsidiary.