Back in Paris for the 50(+2) Anniversary Event
The 50(+2) ILA General Assembly and Symposium was held in Paris from October 12-14, 2022. This event was held under a special sign, the belated anniversary event of ILA. Regularly, 2020 would have been the 50th anniversary of ILA. Due to the Corona crisis, this event had to be postponed. The International Lime Association (ILA) was founded on November 27, 1970 in Paris/France by national lime associations and manufacturers of lime products from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA. Meanwhile, the ILA has 38 members from all continents. Also at this ILA General Assembly three new members were admitted, which will be presented in the following issues of ZKG Cement Lime Gypsum.
The official part for all members started at noon on October 12 with the General Assembly. Paul Ellis, President of ILA, gave an overview of the following program items and highlights of the General Assembly. He also elaborated on the work and importance of ILA as a valuable platform for the exchange of information and experiences on all lime related topics, e.g.:
environment, sustainability, health & safety
trends, technologies, research & science
challenges and opportunities
The new General Secretary of the ILA Dr. Klaus-Ruthard Frisch, CTO of the German Lime Association, was introduced and also had his own say.
Two other key topics during the introductory session were the impact of the Covid crisis on the global economy and its impact on the international lime industry, and the challenges for the lime industry associated with the key factor of sustainability. Ellis analyzed global lime production. The ILA now has 17 national associations and 21 individual lime manufacturers from all regions, including the three newly admitted member companies:
Horcalsa – a Guatemalan company dedicated to the production and distribution of specialized limes in Central and South America
Intical – Cal & Cemento Sur SA, has a lime plant, installed in the highland region of Peru more than 50 years ago and it operates five kilns
Caleras San Juan SA – a mining company founded in 1952, with more than 60 years of experience in the manufacture of lime and derived products
Other companies have also expressed their interest in becoming members.
2021 also saw the first online presentation of the Health & Safety Award, which was launched in 2020, in three categories to participating companies.
This was followed by reports from the continents of Europe, North America, (South)-Africa and Asia and the presentation of the three new member companies. A special presentation came from Ukraine with the title „War, economy, market and future“ on the current situation of the lime industry in Ukraine and the effects of the war.
The first event evening ended with a Welcome Reception by boat on the Seine, which gave participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and make contacts.
The second event day started with the ILA Symposium I – Health & Safety. After a welcome by Paul Ellis, Dame Judith Hackitt gave her presentation on “Health and safety in uncertain and turbulent times”. She emphasized that the future cannot be predicted and that flexibility, openness to change and learning from others, and active management are therefore essential. “Truly sustainable solutions must have health and safety at the heart” was one of the key points of her speech.
The contribution „From Compliance to Culture – Inspire People by Vision Zero!“ by Helmut Ehnes, International Social Security Association ISSA Mining, based in Germany, presented the initiative to prevent occupational accidents. The vision is that all accidents at work are preventable, and there are three core areas on which the initiative focuses: Safety, Health and Wellbeing. Importantly, the Vision Zero implementation allows for a flexible approach. More information is available at: www.visionzero.global.
Dr. Daniele Terruzzi, Tenens SaS S.r.l, dealt in his presentation with the optimized and energy-efficient operation of large lime shaft kilns. Another aspect of the presentation was the use of automation technology for the safe and stress-free operation of a shaft kiln for quality lime.
Afterwards, the still quite young ILA Health & Safety Award 2022 could be presented in Persona for the first time in the three categories Technology, Prevention Culture and Health Prevention. The ILA Health & Safety Award is also on the starting blocks again for 2023. More information and instructions for applying can be found at www.internationallime.org.
After more presentations and many discussion contributions, the afternoon program included the 50+2 anniversary event of the founding of ILA. A look back at the 5 decades in the Grand Cafe Capucines let the successful development of the ILA pass in review. Many companions had come to the festive event and resurrected highlights.
Still in the aftermath of the anniversary event, the festive dinner took place in the famous Pavillon Ledoyen. In an exclusive atmosphere, it was possible to cultivate contacts and exchange views on current challenges.
On the third day of the ILA General Assembly and Symposium 2022, the last two symposia were on the agenda. Symposium II – Internet of Things focused primarily on the benefits of automation and digitalization in the lime industry. In addition to contributions describing the opportunities and challenges in this field presented by Judith Schneider, PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH/Germany and Torsten Gruenzig, Sparrow Network GmbH/Germany, Paul Ellis, ILA President presented the practical implementation of an automation project in his talk “Implementation of an Automation Project in Schaefer Kalk Malaysia”.
Symposium III dealt with an important and now ubiquitous topic: Sustainability & CO2. For all branches of industry, it will be decisive how sustainable they position themselves in the future - and this also applies to the lime industry. Stéphane Godin, from Graymont Canada gave the keynote speech: “The future in lime in a decarbonized world”. Godin gave an analysis of the current situation and discussed what the lime industry can do. In doing so, he raised the interesting question of whether it is always the global players who bring the change. “A focused CO2 Roadmap in a global sustainability vision” presented by Damien Gregoire, Carmeuse/Belgium and Kevin Whyte, Carmeuse/USA dealt with the individual steps on the way to CO2 neutrality in 2050. The final three presentations by Patrick Bucher, Merz Ofenbau AG, Luca Sarandrea, Cimprogetti Srl and Carlo Cella, Qualical International dealt with sustainable and future-proof production of lime with state-of-the-art technology. After a panel discussion and closing remarks by Paul Ellis, three content-filled and eventful days came to an end.
The next ILA General Assembly and Symposium will be held at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang/Malaysia from 11-13 October 2023.
