Dangote Cement Partners Local Communities to Shore Up Alternative Fuel Project value chain
Dangote Cement Partners Local Communities to Shore Up Alternative Fuel Project value chain
Dangote Cement has moved to empower stakeholders in the value chain of Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) supply as part of its strategies to shore up and sustain its availability as a waste that is co-processed in the cement kiln in order to recover energy.
The decision to partner with local communities in the value chain is part of Dangote Cement contribution to the global environmental preservation efforts and circular economy.
The Cement manufacturing company has therefore introduced a periodic value chain analysis and community engagements with the waste (PKS) collectors as well as the palm oil millers in communities across Nigeria to explore avenues to empowering them to bolster production which in effect will lead to sustainable generation of PKS to be co-processed in the cement kilns, leaving zero waste.
The Dangote Cement team led by the Head, Alternative Fuel Project, Engr. Peter Anagbe and Head, Sustainability, Dr. Igazeuma Okoroba visited one of the farm settlements in Ikire, in Irewole local government area of Osun State where PKS are sourced to ascertain the needs of the community and ways through which the company can empower them.
Engr. Anagbe said Dangote Cement was desirous of ensuring sustainable collection of waste materials in the form of PKS, as a means of improving the environment and an addition to the source of livelihood for the community.
He told community members to always consider alternative value adding opportunities to wastes in whatever they are doing taking a cue from the PKS which hitherto was a waste which is openly incinerated, causing environmental pollution.
Elder Hammed Adekunle, a community leader conducted the team round the site of palm oil mills in the area and explained that the main stay of the community economy is palm oil milling and that the use of PKS for co-processing, offered them opportunity to expand and diversify.
Elder Hammed said sourcing PKS from the harvesting of palm tree is a very tedious process which involves as much as 30 people depending on the volume of the palm tree being harvested. He appealled for support from Dangote Cement to acquire modern machines to process the palm oil and in turn, generate the PKS.
Elder Adekunle expressed gratitude at the gesture of the management of Dangote Cement noting that the cement company was the first to pay them a visit and show empathy saying “this means Dangote cement values us as a critical stakeholder in the value chain of ensuring zero waste-to-landfill by evacuating the waste palm kernel shell (PKS).
The Dangote team earlier met with the various stakeholders within the Ikire hub, during which stakeholders in the value chain enumerated the challenges faced by them while trying to collect the waste from different locations.
Prince Oloyan Lawal, who spoke for the stakeholders, told the Dangote team that a general challenge faced by them is the issue of logistics as they have to move from one settlement to the other to collect the waste and the settlements are usually not motorable.
He thanked the Dangote Cement team for educating them on waste management and the benefits inherent in the value chain. He stated that most of them are farmers and that the value exchanged for the waste (PKS as a by-product of palm oil) collection is seen as a part time activity and given the enlightenment by Dangote Cement team, they would devout more attention to the activity.
Engr. Anagbe explained that the visit was necessitated by the shift in global attention to alternative fuel sourcing, which is expected to contribute to the realization of ‘zero emission’ and ‘zero waste’ concepts. He added that alternative fuel can be produced from other agricultural wastes, municipal wastes, commercial and industrial wastes, thereby contributing to minimize waste to landfills.
Engr. Anagbe and Dr. Igazeuma urged the stakeholders to have an open mind-set towards a circular economy as most of the materials which are dumped as wastes are now sources of waste-to-wealth which goes a long way to improve the environment as well as the economy of the rural dwellers.
They assured that Dangote Cement would partner with them to ensure that they reap the desired benefits from the culture of turning waste to wealth and protecting the environment.
The team, thereafter, visited the Ibese cement plant on a tour of the Alternative Fuel Pneumatic Feeding System and the PKS storage area. The feeding system was fabricated and assembled in-house, using obsolete equipment that were recycled. The feeding system systematically dozes the PKS into the calciner of the cement kiln, where the waste is co-processed at high temperatures, leaving zero waste and emissions.
Acting Ibese Plant Director, Mr. Myneni Nageswara, who received the team members, thanked them for its efforts at ensuring that Dangote Cement is not left behind in the global efforts at providing alternative fuel sources to traditional fossil fuel, thereby mitigating the impact of emission and conserving energy.
He particularly praised the Ibese team for a job well done in the fabrication of the Pneumatic Feeing system which uses the PKS to thermally substitute the heat energy required by the kiln in the cement making process. He urged management to fast-track installation of additional feeding systems to increase the waste co-processing capacity of the plant.
