China: FLSmidth, Sino Environment Engineering Development (SEPTEC) and China Resources Cement (CRC) have signed a partnership to provide pyroprocessing co-processing systems to cement plants. FLSmidth will be responsible for the design, engineering and integration of the integrated waste burning solution, with SEPETC acting as a general contractor.

The agreement follows a project at CRC's Hongshuihe cement plant that took municipal and industrial waste from the city of Binyang in Guangxi. FLSmidth installed a Hotdisc system that could process 300t/day of waste to support the cement plant’s cement production capacity of 3200t/day.

"China's energy intensive industries, such as cement production, are coming under pressure from the government that wants to rebalance the economy towards a less energy-hungry mode of growth, curb pollution and reduce carbon emissions. CRC plans to initiate several similar municipal solid waste co-processing projects for other cement producers with FLSmidth and SEPETC as partners," said FLSmidth China Country Manager, Cyril Leung.

In China's latest five-year plan, the government encourages more cement producers to co-process municipal solid waste in the cement industry, with an aim of getting 15 - 20% of the cement kilns in the country to be co-processing waste by 2020. In 2017, China will introduce a national carbon-trading scheme in 2017.

Oman: Al Ramooz National LLC has selected Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) to provide two mixed waste processing facilities in Oman. A 220t/day plant at Ibri and a 150t/day plant at Buraimi will treat municipal solid waste from the governorates of Al Dhahirah and Al Buraimi in northwest Oman. Both systems will be commissioned in 2017.

The new plants will process waste for French company Veolia and Al Ramooz, which were awarded a seven-year waste management contract tendered by Oman Environmental Services Holding Company in 2016. The contract includes the collection, transportation and landfilling for 250,000 residents. To fulfill this contract, Al Ramooz National LLC takes charge of collection, material processing and recovery. To maximise recovery and product quality, Al Ramooz National LLC selected BHS’ patented MSW process, combining screen, air and optical separation technologies to capture recyclable commodities and to produce alternative fuels.

“These two systems are an investment in the long-term sustainability of Oman,” said Al Ramooz Chairman Ali Saleh Al Sahib. “BHS offered the most advanced and complete system to help us reach our goals and we are especially excited to bring such a high level of technology to our process. We were able to collaborate on creative layouts to immediately maximise our recovery and value from the waste stream while simultaneously building in the flexibility to expand our processing capabilities in the future.”

The plants will feature the BHS Metering Bin Liberator Class to open bags and provide the system with a steady flow of material. BHS Tri-Disc screens will extract organics and separate containers from fibres, while Nihot Single Drum Separators will segregate dry recyclables from bulkier items, such as wood and rock. NRT’s In-Flight Sorting optical technology will target PET, HDPE, PP and PVC. Cardboard, mixed paper, ferrous metals and aluminium will also be recovered.

Ireland: Limerick council’s economic committee has agreed to ask Irish Cement that it conduct a full public consultation over its plans to co-process alternative fuels, including tyres, at its cement plant. Local residents have submitted objections to the Environmental Protection Agency over the proposals, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. However, Irish Cement has insisted its Euro10m plan for the site will have minimal environmental impact and will secure jobs at the site.

Egypt: A study led by the Ministry of Industry says that the substation rate of alternative fuels used by cement plants is set to increase to 30% by 2025. At present the co-processing rate is 6.4%, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper. The Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil added that he expects that the total coal consumption in cement plants will reach 9.7Mt/yr by 2025. Increased use of alternative fuels is also expected to save the industry US$50m/yr by 2025.

The study was carried out by the Ministry of Industry, International Finance Corporation, the Ministry of Environment and the Cement Division of the Building Materials Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries. It used a sample of 14 cement plants in the country that represents three quarters of the operational plants in the market.