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Slag cement being used for seawall railway project in Southern England
Written by Global Slag staff
01 July 2021
UK: Hanson’s Regen Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) product is being used by BAM Nuttall and Network Rail in the first and second phase of building a new sea wall in Dawlish, Devon. So far 4600m3 has been supplied to the project that is intended to protect a railway line from the sea. The bespoke mix being utilised for the project uses Regen GGBS to create a pumpable low carbon concrete that is strong enough to withstand erosion, waves and storm winds while reducing the amount of carbon generated by two-thirds.
“From the earliest phase of this project, we have considered how this scheme can limit its environmental impact without compromising the strength and resilience of the structure. The final design uses piles buried deep in the bedrock to create stability for the structure. Those piles are protected by prefabricated facing panels created off-site and reinforced by concrete poured in behind the visible section of wall,” said Jack Brookes, site agent for BAM Nuttall.
The project has also had to face difficult logistical, technical and operational challenges created by pouring large amounts of high specification concrete up to 200m through the night in very short tidal windows. Hanson plans to supply a further 4500m3 of concrete to the project.
Workers begin shipment of East Helena slag heap to South Korea
Written by Global Slag staff
20 May 2021
US: Workers have shipped the first load of slag extracted from the East Helena slag heap in Montana. KXLH Helena has reported that South Korea-based Korea Zinc Company has bought the 2.0Mt slag heap from the site of the former ASARCO foundry. The company plans to extract zinc and other metals from the slag before using the remainder in cement production. It was originally created as a by-product of lead production at the site.
Vietnam government encourages use of slag in cement production
Written by Global Slag staff
17 May 2021
Vietnam: The government has encouraged cement producers to increase their uptake of waste products, including slag, in cement production. The Viet Nam News newspaper has reported that the government has asked the Ministry of Construction and related agencies to complete the formulation of technical standards, regulations and instructions in relation to the use of slag as well as researching new applications for it. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also started inspecting storage sites to ensure that it doesn’t exceed two years worth of production. The government initiative has been made in response to rising stockpiles of slag, ash and gypsum.
Euroslag and the FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung lobby European Commission to tighten procurement law for greater secondary materials uptake
Written by Global Slag staff
26 February 2021
Germany: Euroslag and the FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung have spoken of the need for an amendment to European public procurement law to make the uptake of secondary raw materials, including slag, mandatory for public construction tenders. The organisations said that the European Parliament’s latest report on its Circular Economy Action Plan of March 2020 provides for a more strongly ‘ecologically-orientated’ public procurement law.
Euroslag chair and FEhS-InstitütfürBaustoff-Forschung managing director Thomas Reiche said, "The own-initiative report provides the best foundation for binding, forward-looking legislation to consistently promote the circular economy. This also includes fair competition and the conditional prioritisation of secondary raw materials, as also demanded by the rapporteur of the European Parliament Jan Huitema. Only concrete procurement directives with third-party protection character ensure the Europe-wide use of all high-quality secondary building materials, which have been making an important contribution to ecologically and economically sound economic activity for decades!"
Harsco Corporation’s consolidated sales growth fails to increase earnings
Written by Global Cement staff
26 February 2021
US: Harsco Corporation recorded net sales of US$1.85bn in 2020, up by 23% year-on-year from Euro1.50bn in 2019. The group’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 10% to US$238m from US$265m. Harsco Environmental’s fourth quarter net sales rose by 2% to US$246m from US$243m. Its adjusted EBITDA rose by under 1% to US$52.0m from US$51.0m. The company attributed the division’s growth to higher demand for applied products and lower general and administrative spending, partially offset by a less favourable services mix and contract changes.
Chairman and chief executive officer Nick Grasberger said, “Against a challenging market backdrop in 2020, Harsco made significant progress on its strategic, operational and financial objectives. While the disruption caused by the global pandemic could not have been predicted, our teams executed well, with a consistent focus on our key priorities – operating safely, serving customers, preserving financial flexibility and executing our Environmental Solutions business from Stericycle (ESOL) integration and operational recovery plan in Rail.”