Sustainability ...
... is one of the top buzzwords of our age, and is also heard everywhere in the international cement industry, as was clearly illustrated at this year’s TÇMB, held in Antalya/Turkey. Both the Turkish host, M. S¸efik Tüzün, Chairman of the Board of the Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association, and the two guest speakers Ahmad Al-Rousan, Secretary General, Arab Union for Cement & Building Materials, and Ashwani Pahuja, Director General National Council for Cement and Building Materials, India, stressed the importance of sustainable cement production in their addresses. Regrettably, the term “sustainability” is massively overused, with the result that it not infrequently grates on listeners’ ears.
The latest issue of ZKG spotlights an impressive example of sustainable innovation in the cement industry. The increasing use of alternative fuels at the Rohožník cement plant in Slovakia has resulted in such a rise in the chlorine content of the bypass dust that the latter can no longer simply be returned to the process. In cooperation with a plant-engineering company, the cement producer therefore developed an innovative and sustainable solution. An environmentally friendly, zero-waste process reduces the chlorine content of the bypass dust to such an extent that it can then be re-used in cement production. Industrial salt is yielded as an additional saleable product. All in all, an example par excellence of a sustainable process from start to finish – from the use of alternative fuels right through to salt production!
Examples like this illustrate that our industry is fully aware of its responsibility for sustainable production and that it is unceasingly searching for practicable and future-orientated solutions.
I wish you much reading enjoyment!
Yours
Anett Fischer
Editor-in-Chief
ZKG International
