UK: Sweden’s Metso has signed a service partner agreement for its M&J waste recycling equipment with Core Industrial Solutions. The deal will allow Metso to improve the availability of its services to the waste recycling industry. It has over 100 waste recycling machines in the UK.

"Complemented by Core Industrial Solutions' expertise and commitment, our services will enable maximised plant and operational efficiency with continuous maintenance," said Jens Peter Martensen, General Sales Manager, Metso Waste Recycling at Metso. Metso has also strengthened its overall setup and customer service in the UK and Ireland, by increasing sales personnel amongst other measures, to respond to growing customer needs.

China: Jidong Cement Fengxiang plant in Tianjiazhuang district in Shaanxi is holding a public consultation before it disposes of 0.1Mt of hazardous waste. The cement company plans to process the waste in its 4500t/day kiln. It says that it can meet environmental regulations during the operation

India: Local government bodies in Chennai in Tamil Nadu have complained of the cost of sending plastics waste to cement plants. Five municipalities are spending of US$40,000/month on transport costs, according to the New Indian Express. Since 2017, 54 local government bodies have sent waste to cement plants for co-processing. Of these, 49 local bodies send it to UltraTech Cement’s plant at Ariyalur. However, the plant only pays transport costs for the waste sourced within a 100km radius. The state is looking into supplying plastics waste to nearer buyers.

Spain: Cemex has signed a Euro117m deal with the local government to convert the land used by the Gádor cement plant in Almeria for use by new projects. These will include projects in solar and wind power generation, waste fuel production from plastics and biomass and a new concrete batching plant, according to Teleprensa. The initiative is intended to create around 400 jobs.

The cement producer has also signed a similar agreement for its Lloseta in Baleares. The company announced in mid-October 2018 that it was planning to close the two plants due to reduced demand for cement and mounting European CO₂ emissions regulations.