CEMEX UK To Double Use Of Tyres At Rugby Works

Building materials company, CEMEX UK, has been granted a permit for a trial by the cement industry regulator, the Environment Agency (EA), to increase the use of tyres from 12 to 25 per cent as part-replacement for coal to heat the cement kiln at Rugby Works in Warwickshire.

This decision comes after an extended period of record performance while using tyres, with data showing a marked reduction in emissions of oxides of nitrogen (up to 30 per cent) when tyres are in use.

CEMEX welcomes the EA decision, which is key to improving the company's environmental performance and will help to ensure that quality cement from the plant is provided as sustainably as possible.

In addition to the direct environmental benefits of reduced emissions, using alternative fuels, like tyres, has indirect sustainable benefits, such as recovering energy from what would otherwise be considered a waste material. Each year 40 million tyres are scrapped in the UK.

Using alternative fuels at Rugby Works could help to minimise illegal dumping and preserve fossil fuels for future generations. The tyres increase follows news last month that Rugby plant has been granted permission to trial another waste-derived fuel, Climafuel, to replace up to 30 per cent of the fossil fuels used at the plant.

This means that when used together in the future, tyres and Climafuel could substitute up to 55 per cent of the fuel used to heat the kiln. This would significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the plant. CEMEX is planning to gradually increase the use of tyres with immediate effect, and once the trial using increased volumes has been completed, Climafuel will be introduced in a trial which is due to commence in the new year.

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Notes to Editors:

CEMEX UK CEMEX is a global building solutions company and leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates.

In the UK, CEMEX also produces asphalt, and has a significant share of the roof tile, concrete-block paving, and concrete block sectors.

Additionally, the company is the leading supplier of concrete sleepers to the rail industry and a supplier of PFA cement additives.

CEMEX has a national supply network in the UK with over 500 locations, to ensure that quality building materials are available to customers locally.

For more information, see www.cemex.co.uk , www.cemex.com

Rugby Works

CEMEX's Rugby Works is one of the most modern cement plants in the world and represents a total investment of £200 million. It has the largest kiln in the UK and has a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of cement per annum. CEMEX supports 730 local jobs in Rugby (183 at the works), contributes £25.5 million per annum to the local economy and provides a product that is essential locally and nationally, for housing, hospitals, schools and roads. Every year Rugby produces enough cement for the construction of more than 72,000 houses (assuming that an average house contains approximately 18 tonnes of cement). For more information, please see www.cemex.co.uk/communities Climafuel Climafuel is an alternative fuel which is derived from household and commercial waste and could, therefore, substantially reduce what currently has to be sent to landfill. It looks like shredded paper and consists of paper, cardboard, wood, carpet, textiles and plastics that have been through a treatment process. It is a solid, non-hazardous fuel from which recoverable materials have been removed for recycling.

For more information, please contact

Marit Meyer-Bell,

tel. +44 (0)786 765 3392