Titan America’s Medley, Fl., plant has begun using selected waste, such as car bumpers and scrap cardboard, as an alternative to coal in cement production, according to the Sun Sentinel. The company is the first to use the waste-to-cement process on a large scale in Florida, states industry experts.
“We’re not doing this only for ourselves,” said Guillermo Haberer, director of alternative fuels and materials. “We’re hoping the rest of the cement companies in Florida will do this and the rest of the cement industry across the country.”
Titan works with a unit of Republic Services in Fort Lauderdale that collects waste from businesses, mostly in Broward County. After sorting through the waste, Republic Services engineers a material that works for Titan and cuts those eligible materials into 2-in. pieces that will be fed into the cement kiln, said Mark Talbott, Republic’s general manager for the South Florida business market.
Republic Services expects to provide more than 1,000 tons of materials monthly to the Medley plant. To meet that demand, it aims to expand its waste collection business.
By next year, Titan America hopes to replace 30 percent of the coal at the plant with alternative fuel.