According to the latest industry report produced by the British Cement Association (BCA), the UK used under 10% recycled material as fuel in 2002, compared to nearly 70% alternative fuels used by the cement industry in the Netherlands.
But the four UK cement makers – Lafarge Cement UK, Castle Cement, Rugby Cement and Buxton Lime Industries – are working alongside the BCA to rapidly improve the figure, according to Performance: A Corporate Responsibility Report from the UK Cement Industry.
 The cement industry report highlights corporate responsibility measures |
The report states that switching to alternative fuels is a “key element of the sustainability strategy” for the industry. Spurred on by legislation including the forthcoming European emissions trading scheme, it is seeking a 25.6% reduction in energy consumption by 2010.
The industry believes one major way forward will be the increased use of tyres as an alternative fuel. BCA chief executive Mike Gilbert said that more than five million waste tyres were used by the industry as a fuel in 2002, reducing “a major landfill problem” and cutting the use of fossil fuels.
He said: “This cement industry-delivered solution came to fruition just as a new EU Directive banned whole tyres from landfill sites. With over 40 million tyres taken off cars, vans and lorries every year, we have helped reduce what could have been a massive problem of fly-tipping and illegal dumping.”
Capacity
The industry has the capacity to handle around 50% of the total volume of waste tyres, according to the Performance report. At the moment, the industry also takes in 50% of the UK's solvent waste and 10% of the UK's packaging waste to use as fuel.
The cement industry manufacturers about 12 million tonnes of cement each year, and burned 144,000 tonnes of waste as fuel in its kilns during 2002. But, the report said the industry could “potentially be using 1.5 million tonnes within the next five years”.
The report claimed: “Not only does this mean energy recovery from waste products but it can also lead to other environmental benefits in terms of reduced emissions.”
In 1994, only 1.5% of fuel in the industry was from alternative sources, but this has risen to 9.35% in 2002. Current industry developments include a 56 million dry-process kiln under construction at Castle Cement's Padeswood works in north Wales, in which “alternative fuels will be used extensively”.
Other waste streams the industry is experimenting with include sewage sludge pellets at Lafarge's Couldon works in Staffordshire and agricultural waste derived fuel – made from meat and bone meal – in Castle Cement's Ribblesdale works in Lancashire.
In other areas, the cement industry is working to reduce the impact of its own waste – disposal of cement kiln dust fell from 308,000 tonnes in 1994 to 110,000 tonnes in 2002 as new uses were found for the material. Waste from Castle Cement in Lancashire, went to “create fertile soil on spoil heaps at Silverwood Colliery in Yorkshire”, the report said.
And, the BCA said it is working with the building Research Establishment and the universities of Sheffield and Dundee to improve the industry's use of recycled aggregates in replacing natural stone in the raw materials needed to make cement.
A full copy of the cement industry report, Performance, is available at the BCA website.
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