Waste with added value

Waste co-processing is AVE’s core activity. A process that ensures definitive, adequate, safe, environmentally sustainable and economically competitive solution for the various types of waste.

In Portugal, this process is regulated, among other statutes, by Decree-Law 85/2005.

Co-processing is the use of waste – previously prepared and identified as viable – as an alternative fuel for cement kilns and / or as a secondary raw material for clinker production.

As an alternative fuel, waste will reduce companies’ costs with energy. At the same time, its use contributes to the preservation of limited resources. Despite being integrated in an industrial process, the burning of these types of waste in cement kilns does not imply any waste – since there is no residual waste – or any environmental liability. It is technically and scientifically proven the absence of emissions of harmful particles into the environment.

As secondary raw material, the residues are equally valued by incorporating them into a product that supports a value-added economic activity for the accounts balance of the national economy, without changing the quality of the final product. Compliance with stringent feasibility requirements, either via a priori identification of co-processable waste or via retrospective, monitoring procedures, offers full confidence to market players.

Waste co-processing in cement kilns is a process of ultimate destruction, conducted in a safe, monitored and in line with the principles of environmental sustainability.