CEMEX signs new EfW deal with SITA

SITA UK signs
London - Recycling and resource management company, SITA UK, has signed a three-year contract to supply 180,000 tonnes of solid recovered fuel to CEMEX in Latvia.

The deal, said SITA, will give its customers an “environmentally sound” alternative to landfilling their residual waste while there is a still an overall lack of recovery facilities in the UK.

In April 2012, SITA UK and CEMEX announced their intention to develop two waste recycling facilities to produce alternative fuel for CEMEX’s Rugby plant in Warwickshire.

The fuel for CEMEX Latvia will be produced by processing residual commercial waste in a new, purpose-built facility at Ridham Docks in Kent.

Once processed, the solid recovered fuel material will be used as a fossil-fuel replacement at CEMEX’s cement production facility in Broceni, southern Latvia.

“We have invested over £6 million developing a new processing facility to produce and bale solid recovered fuel at Ridham,” said Andy Hill, organics and alternative solid fuels manager, at SITA UK.

The new, purpose-built facility was commissioned in August,and the first shipment was scheduled to reach to Latvia in September.

“We are producing solid recovered fuel to a detailed specification, which is required for cement kilns,” said Hill. “We are using residual commercial waste which has a higher calorific value and lower moisture content than municipal waste.”

During processing, SITA removes recyclables such as metals along with materials that are unsuitable for cement kilns such as bricks and concrete. The remaining material is then shredded and baled.

The new facility will enable it to process up to 50 tonnes of material per hour and we will be able to extract more recyclables.

“By locating the processing facility at Ridham Docks, we are also cutting down on the need to transport the material in the UK as we can load bales directly onto ships from our facility,” noted Hill.

SITA UK has a one-year trans-frontier shipment permit to export the solid recovered fuel to CEMEX in Latvia.

“Currently, more than half of our calorific consumption in the kiln comes from alternative fuels, and this agreement is a relevant step that will help us achieve our goals. We are looking forward to a very successful cooperation with SITA UK,” said Enrique Garcia, CEO of CEMEX in Latvia.