SRF facility begins production of Climafuel for Rugby cement plant

SITA UK has begun production of Climafuel at a new £7 million solid recovered fuel (SRF) facility in Birmingham city centre, UK. The Landor Street site transforms commercial waste into Climafuel, an alternative to coal, which is used to fuel the kiln at Cemex’s Rugby cement plant.

The waste, which would be used as landfill if not for the facility, is repeatedly sifted and shredded and materials that could be detrimental to cement manufacture are removed, such as materials with a high water or chlorine content. Metals, plastics and paper taken out of the waste at this stage are recycled. The Climafuel, which has a high calorific content, undergoes continuous analysis from infra-red technology to ensure it meets the high standards required by Cemex. Material that does not meet the necessary specifications can be used as refuse derived fuel elsewhere.

The site took in its first load of waste at the end of March and equipment is still being tested. Once fully operational, the facility will process 22 tph of waste.

A second Climafuel facility is also being planned for Malpass Farm, near the Rugby cement plant. Work on the site will begin this summer with operations expected to commence by the end of 2014. Together with the Landor Street site, a total of 250 000 tpa of Climafuel will be produced.

“Traditionally a significant proportion of Birmingham’s commercial waste has gone to landfill, but space is running out and as an environmentally-conscious company we would rather see the waste put to good use,’ said Ben Harding, General Manager – Material Sourcing at SITA UK.

“At the same time coal and other fossils fuels are becoming increasingly scarce so finding alternatives is crucial, particularly for energy-intensive processes such as cement making. Our partnership with Cemex to supply the Rugby kiln with a specialist fuel, made from waste that can’t reasonably be recycled, is providing a cost-effective, greener and cleaner solution to two problems – reducing landfill and preserving fossil fuels,” he continued.

“We have been successfully burning Climafuel at Rugby since 2007 and during that time we have been steadily increasing the proportion we use. At the moment, we source Climafuel from a number of plants around the UK and to be able to secure supplies locally genuinely provides a local solution to the local problem of how best to utilise the waste that the community generates,” added Cemex’s Ian Southcott.

Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/03062013/cemex_rugby_cement_sita_uk_climafuel_196/