Egypt: Geocycle Egypt has opened a plant to process alternative fuels in Ain Sokhna. The unit had an investment of around US$12m, according to the Egypt Independent newspaper. The waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim will process agricultural and industrial waste into alternative fuels. It plans to supply 0.4Mt/yr to Lafarge Cemet Egypt’s Ain Sokhna plant.

Sweden: HC Miljö has extended its contract to source Icopower pellets from Renewi. The contract will run for the next three years, with an extension possibility for a similar period. Renewi will supply the subsidiary of HeidelbergCement with up to 54,000t/yr of pellets.

“We are very proud that the contract with HeidelbergCement has been extended. We have been working together for many years, proving that an innovative product made from waste can have a significant contribution to a more sustainable world using it as fuel in an industrial process with a large energy demand. It perfectly fits our ‘waste no more’ vision,” said Michael van Hulst, Regional Director of Renewi’s Commercial Netherlands Division.

Renewi manufactures its Icopower pellet product in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and then ships them to Gotland in Sweden. The pellets are made by processing dry commercial waste.

Egypt: Suez Cement’s Kattameya plant has started using a 10% waste-derived alternative fuels substitution rate in its main kiln burner. It brings the plant’s total thermal substitution rate up to 25%, in combination with the 15% rate of alternative fuels it already uses in the calciner. The plant’s volume of waste and biomass will double to 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement’s plans to increase its substitution rate to 30% in the future.

China: Huaxin Cement has released an Environment Impact Report for a proposed domestic waste co-processing project at its Huangshi plant in Hubei province. The project will process 3000t/day of waste for the plant’s 2.85Mt/yr production line.