Suez to fuel UK cement plant with recycled waste

PARIS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - French waste and water group Suez has opened a waste facility in Rugby, Britain that will provide energy for a Cemex cement plant, Suez said in a statement on Monday.

Under the 25-year contract, signed in 2012, Suez will use waste that could not otherwise be sorted and recycled and is made up of a mixture of industrial and household waste, primarily wood, plastic, paper and cardboard.

Suez said the process makes it possible to find a use for up to 98 percent of household and industrial waste. The site, owned and operated by Suez, will supply the UK's largest cement kiln with a direct replacement for fossil fuels, manufactured using locally-sourced rubbish.

The site can handle up to 300,000 tonnes of residual waste each year, with nearly 70 percent coming from companies in the region, and the rest from household waste.

One and a half tonnes of the waste will produce the same energy as one tonne of coal. At full production capacity, the plant can consume up to 40 tonnes of the waste per hour. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq, editing by David Evans)