Philippines: Republic Cement has signed a memorandum of agreement with Nestlé Philippines to co-process post-consumer plastic waste. The agreement was signed by chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Kais Marzouki and Corporate Affairs Head Attorney Ernesto Mascenon of Nestlé Philippines, and president Renato Sunico and director Nabil Francis of Republic Cement and Building Materials.

“Nestlé is aiming for plastic neutrality, which is essentially recovering plastics equal to what we produce. Aside from our current collection and recycling initiatives, we believe this effort will help us gather and co-process bigger volumes of post-consumer waste,” said Marzouki.

In April 2018, Nestlé globally announced a commitment that 100% of its packaging will be recyclable or reusable by 2025. The company’s vision is that none of its waste ends up in landfill or as litter. Nestlé has initiated and is driving waste collection efforts with various partners.

Australia: Focus Enviro, a waste and organic equipment specialist, has secured an exclusive agreement with Austria’s Untha, making it the distribution partner for Untha’s shredding technology in Australia. Focus has its headquartered in New South Wales and it has a presence in Victoria, Queensland and the west of the country.

Untha’s director for global business development, Gary Moore, described Australia as one of the most exciting energy from waste markets in the world despite alternative fuel production being less developed than in Europe. “Landfill rates are rising, environmental pressures are mounting, China’s landmark movement has forced a new direction for the country’s waste framework, and a number of international waste operators, with a presence in Australia, are driving a global knowledge transfer programme to strengthen resource security,” said Moore.

Colombia: Cementos Argos co-processed more than 75,000t of solid waste in 2018. It burns alternative fuels at its Rioclara and Cartagena cement plants. Its plants also co-process up to 65,000t/yr of tyres.

Argentina: Geocycle has signed a three-year deal with the Province of Mendoza to use tyres at LafargeHolcim’s Capdeville cement plant. Geocycle has spent Euro1.15m on preparing a unit to process the tyres, according to the Los Andes newspaper. The waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim has also worked with the local government on setting up collection points for residents to leave old tyres. Geocycle conducted a similar project in Jujuy province in 2018 and it plans to run a similar one in Cordoba province.