Sustainability award for
LEUBE GmbH cement works

The Austrian sustainability award in the category “Economy – best practice in raw material quarrying and operational pro­cedures” went to the quarry Ofenauerberg in Golling/Austria of the LEUBE GmbH cement works for the project “Installation of a mobile crushing plant for the conversion of the material handling system”. Every year approximately 450 000 t of limestone are quarried at Ofenauerberg near Golling/Austria for the production of high-purity quicklime and aggregates. Material handling in the quarry by means of large wheeled loaders and heavy lorries is very expensive due to the high quality requirements. In order to make the material handling system essentially more efficient and environmentally friendly, an innovative mobile crushing plant including downstream mobile belt conveyors were commissioned in 2009. Since it is possible to position the mobile plant parts directly at the quarry site and due to the compact design of the plant, the annual operating time of the heavy loaders and transport vehicles is reduced by approximately 45  %. For reasons of environment protection, the new plant parts are only driven electrically. In summary this results in clearly lower noise, dust and waste gas emissions compared to the past. Altogether this amounts to an annual saving of diesel fuel of about 60 000 l, which corresponds to a reduction of the CO₂ emissions by approx. 40  %. The four winners of the Austrian sustainability award will also take part in the “Sustainable Development Award 2010” of the European Aggregates Association UEPG.