India: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has proposed a roadmap for implementing new plastic waste management rules that recommends the disposal of such waste in cement kilns. It also wants to make manufacturers responsible for collecting waste generated from their products, according to the Mint newspaper. The environment ministry introduced the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016 in March 2016 and the draft guidelines were released in September 2016. The new regulations are expected to replace the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011.

"The preferred option for disposal of non-recyclable plastic waste is co-processing in cement plants due to its high temperature. The producers of non-recyclable plastic, major uses like food packaging, pharmaceuticals, multilayer film manufacturing industries in consultation with local authority, cement plants shall work out modalities for co-processing of such waste in cement kilns," the draft says.

15,000t of plastic waste are believed to be generated daily in the country but only 9000t of this is collected and processed. State Pollution Control Boards may consider incentives such as reduction of water cess/consent fee for cement plants, according to the draft guidelines.

Italy: Zillo Group intends to start using solid recovered fuel (SFR) at its cement plant in Monselice. The cement producer intends to start with a substitution rate of around 5 – 10% with eventual plans to reach 50% in the medium term, according to a statement published by Padova Oggi.

Belarus: The Council of Ministers of Belarus has approved the creation of a plan for the production of alternative fuels from municipal solid waste (MSW) and its use in the country. The aim is to expand the scope of use of municipal solid waste and its conversion into refuse derived fuel (RDF) including usage at cement plants.

The project aims to replace imported coal and natural gas with RDF levels of up to 330,000t for use by cement kilns. This will require around 1.1Mt of MSW or 26% of the country’s supply. In order to do this it has been recommended that new MSW sorting facilities should be set up and the existing ones should be retrofitted to produce raw materials for RDF.

The works will be implemented in two phases. Under the first phase (2016 - 2017), two facilities for the production of RDF will be set up in Krichev to supply Krichevcementnoshifer and Belarusian Cement Plant and one in Krasnoselsk for the Krasnoselskstroymaterialy company. In addition the fuel supply systems will need to be upgraded at the cement plants, production of raw material for RDF will be organised at the existing waste treatment plants in Brest, Mogilev, Gomel, Baranovichi and a waste sorting plant that is under construction in Grodno.

The cost of the first phase is estimated at Euro227m. Under the second phase (2017 - 2020), the output of raw materials for the production of RDF will be increased. In particular, inter-regional sorting plants should be built in Bobruisk, Vawkavysk, Zhlobin, Krichev, Lida, recycling plants should be built in Vitebsk and Orsha, a waste treatment plant should be reconstructed in Gomel. The cost of the second phase totals Euro118m. If this plan is implemented in full, the overall level of waste utilisation will be approximately 27% in 2020.

Algeria: Minister of Water Resources and Environment Abdelkader Ouali has encouraged investors to enter the waste recycling market. The minister said that the industry could be worth up to Euro310m during a tour of a waste treatment project at the Lafarge Algeria cement plant at Oggaz.

Ouali also praised Lafarge’s initiative to eliminate wastes through the furnaces of the cement works. These operations have allowed the elimination, over the past two years, of 106t of expired medication, collected in 12 provinces. They have been carried out in cooperation with the ministry of Environment and the Algerian national union of pharmacies and dispensaries.