Continental Cement held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its Green America Recycling expansion at its Davenport plant in Buffalo, Iowa. The investment will allow around 50,000 tons of fossil fuels to be substituted with waste material.
The project includes the addition of FLSmidth Cement’s FUELFLEX Pyrolyzer, which breaks down landfill waste into energy. The technology is designed to replace fossil fuels and petroleum (pet) coke. The pryolyzer is placed within the kiln and calciner.
The $38 million expansion also includes enlarging the plant’s building to accommodate materials awaiting the newly installed primary and secondary shredders. The funds also improved the feeding system into the kiln and installed a new metal separator.
President and CEO Anne Noonan of Summit Materials, which owns Continental Cement, said the company’s vision is to be the most socially responsible construction materials solution provider.”And compared to the rest of the industry, the rest of the industry averages about 14% alternative fuel replacement,” Noonan said in a phone interview with local NPR station, WVIK. “Where we are leaders in this area, we were the first to move in this. And this will allow us to up this game here at Davenport to 55%. And we expect that this technology, we are the first doing it, but it will extend across the industry. So, it should have very positive impact from a carbon emissions reduction across the entire cement industry.”
