Canada: The Nova Scotia provincial government has given permission for Lafarge Canada’s Brookfield plant to burn tyres for one year. Environment Minister Iain Rankin said that the results would be examined at the end of the pilot period.

“My decision is based on the science and evidence associated with this application as well as the public feedback received which helped to shape conditions of the approval,” said Rankin. “This pilot will confirm if the company can reduce current carbon emission levels at its Brookfield plant as the information provided in the application indicates.”

Terms of the pilot project include limiting tyre-derived fuel to 15% of total daily input and no more than 20t/day, forming a community liaison committee to keep residents informed of the project’s status and address their questions and to develop a complaints resolution plan.

Lafarge Canada will also be required to submit plans for related activities and apply for a temporary industrial approval to operate the pilot project. The required plans include: tyre storage and waste management; air dispersion modelling; continuous monitoring of emissions; stack testing before and after the pilot begins; and an emergency response if there is a malfunction of the kiln. The results of the pilot will be made public through a community liaison committee.

However, the plan has received criticism from the local community on environmental grounds. The local press has also questioned whether the provincial government is subsidising Lafarge Canada’s fuel costs as the region charges consumers recycling tariffs on goods such as tyres. A previous plan by the cement producer to burn tyres in the region in 2007 was blocked by the local government.

France: LafargeHolcim has launched a Euro100m upgrade to build a new clinker production line at its Martres cement plant in Tolosane. Construction work on the new line will start in the third quarter of 2018 and will be completed in mid-2020. A key feature of the upgrade will be a focus on using alternative fuels in the new kiln, particularly tyres. Following the project’s completion the plant will have a substitution rate of 80% from 30% at present.

Colombia: Holcim Colombia says it will stop burning ‘toxic’ waste as an alternative fuel at its Nobsa cement plant following a campaign by environmental activitists. The cement producer has stopped burning plastics at the plant, according to HSB News. However, initial complaints were leveled at the use of pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial waste as fuels.

Mexico: Geocycle operations based in Colima and Veracruz have received the ‘Environmental Excellence 2017’ award given by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) through the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA). The award is the maximum recognition granted by PROFEPA to companies that demonstrate continuous improvement in their ecological performance, a commitment to environmental preservation and social responsibility with their surroundings.

"At Geocycle Mexico we have an on-going commitment to sustainable development, not only with our co-processing solution for industrial waste management, but also in our daily operations. We are aligned to a global vision, with strict levels to reduce and control our carbon footprint, and proud to say that as a company we are contributing to a better future," said Miguel Ladron de Guevara, director of Geocycle Mexico.

Geocycle, a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, supports its parent company’s alternative fuels strategy around the world. LafargeHolcim runs cement plants at Orizaba in Veracruz and Tecoman in Colima.