Lafarge’s excom announces participation in egypt’s waste & recycling expo
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Participation is a major step in Lafarge's movement to improve the sustainability of its operations
Cairo, Egypt, 30 April, 2015 - Lafarge, a world leader in building materials, today announced its participation in Egypt's Waste & Recycling Expo, taking place on April 30 - May 2, 2015 at the Cairo International Exhibition & Convention Centre (CICC). The Waste & Recycling Expo is the only exhibition in Egypt and the MENA region focused on waste, alternative energy and the recycling of paper, plastic, glass, metal, oil, water and more. The event aims to create an opportunity for key industry figures to meet face-to-face and learn about the latest trends and innovation in waste management. At the event, Hussein Mansi, Lafarge Egypt CEO, will be delivering an opening speech, and the company will also be displaying proposed concrete trash bins to be used in Egypt's streets, as an alternative to the current metal bins.
Currently, the volume of waste generated in Egypt is estimated to be around 70 million tons per year, with 20 million tons allocated to municipal solid waste, 30 million tons to agricultural waste and 20 million tons to waterways cleansing. Waste materials that the industry can utilize as alternative fuels include refused-derived fuel (RDF) from municipal solid waste, biomass from agricultural waste, in addition to used tires, waste oils, sewage sludge, plastics and spent solvent. While several challenges are being faced that hinder the inclusion of alternative fuels in production, including insufficient penalties and the lack of commitments by waste generators to dispose of the waste, Egypt's Waste & Recycling Expo aims to tackle these issues, and explain on the important role that the cement industry can play in the waste management system.
Cement production requires significant energy consumption; however, the industry's manufacturing process is particularly well-suited to approach sustainable development. Thus, in its continued search to raise the use of new alternative fuels, Lafarge is taking key steps to reduce energy prices, while also improving the sustainability of its operations. As part of its Sustainability Ambitions 2020, Lafarge is planning to allocate 50% of its fuel mix to alternative fuels.
"Lafarge Egypt plans to continue to improve its practice of employing alternative fuels in its plant to support a sustainable development in the country. , and our participation in this Expo is an importantstep to achieving our goal," said Hussein Mansi, CEO of Lafarge Egypt. "The use of waste as fuel or raw material has become a full-fledged lever for keeping our company's industrial sites competitive, in addition to improving the sustainability of our operations. We feel it is our responsibility as a leader in building solutions to provide services beyond our normal scope to the community." Lafarge Ecocem is currently focusing on three key areas: the reduction of its plants' energy consumption, the optimization of its energy mix according to market conditions, and finally, the increase of its use of alternative fuels in the energy mix. The focus on these areas will ultimately reduce the entire Lafarge Group's environmental footprint, provide better control of its energy and create a local economy around the recycling of materials, which will eventually offer local authorities an efficient waste disposal solution.
Lafarge Egypt and Ecocem have implemented many projects over the past 3 years in order to increase the use of alternative fuels and aim to achieve an average fuel substitution rate of 25% by the end of 2015. More than 260,000 tons of waste have been processed and burnt in Lafarge's Sokhna plant since 2013, an equivalent of 100,000 tons of fossil fuels.
For more details regarding the Egypt Waste & Recycling Expo, please visit the event website. -End-
About Lafarge More information is available on Lafarge's website: www.lafarge.com
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