Lafarge Sees Energy Potential in Plastics

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). One of the the U.S.' largest cement and gypsum board makers is considering using unrecyclable plastics to fuel its Whitehall, Pennsylvania, cement kiln. Lafarge North America Incorporated (NYSE:LAF)(Herndon, Virginia) a subsidiary of Lafarge S.A. (NYSE:LR) (Paris, France) is taking the bull by the horns in this relatively new-to-America technology. It has conducted feasibility studies on such a project indicating that there are some 10,000 metric tons per year of class 3 through 7 plastics available in the area of its Whitehall plant, which could potentially be used as fuel.

The BTU value of plastics is very similar to that of coal. Plastics have been shown to be as efficient a fuel as used tires, a resource the environmentally sensitive company has been using for nine years. And Lafarge is putting its money where its mouth is. The city has indicated a desire to hire an independent contractor to look into pollution-related matters concerning the burning of plastics as fuel, and Lafarge will pay for that service.

Lafarge is hoping to conduct a trial burn and stack testing in late April, and is at this time awaiting approval from the state of Pennsylvania to begin trials.

Since recyclers accept only plastics labeled class 1 (PETE or Polyethylene and Terephthalate) or class 2 (HDPE or High-Density Polyethylene), goods labeled class 3 through 7 eventually find their way to our already over-burdened landfill areas, or worse, our streets and public places. This creates headaches by the ton, not only for present-day city government refuse departments, but also for future generations, who will have to deal with the ever-burgeoning problem of refuse in general, and plastics in particular, and where to put it, and at ever-increasing taxpayer cost. Hey, that's US, folks.

Burning plastics for fuel is not a brand new technology. Europe is more in the forefront in the technology of usable alternative fuels than North America, because of its denser population and lack of available landfill space. Lafarge's European facilities have been converting plastic refuse to energy for some years with good results. The time is ripe for North America to begin conducting studies and trial runs, both local government entities and private industry, to implement this technology, because our available landfill space is quickly diminishing, while the demand for more landfill space augments every year. If the Whitehall, Pennsylvania, area can generate 10,000 tons a year of cast-off, unrecyclable class 3-7 plastics, one might wonder what an area the size of Los Angeles, or Houston could generate. This is a project worthy of our consideration, and just may be a partial answer to a looming refuse problem.

Lafarge North America is one of North America's largest building materials manufacturers, with more than 1,000 facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Lafarge North America's construction materials products include asphalt, ready-mixed concrete, and concrete pipes and blocks. The company also makes gypsum wallboard products. It operates North America's largest drywall plants, located in Kentucky and Florida Lafarge S.A. is one of the largest global manufacturers of building materials and has become the world's biggest cement maker with its 2001 acquisition of UK-based Blue Circle Industries. Lafarge makes cement, aggregates and concrete, roofing (concrete and clay tiles, ceramic chimney systems), and gypsum products (wallboard, plasters, insulation). The company has operations in 75 countries worldwide.