(L to R): Dwight Demorais and David Shenton (Lafarge), Phil Richards and Simon Buxton (Tarmac), Lord Smith and Tom Levitt MP, Francois Bardout and Andrew Jackson (Lhoist), Simon van der Byl (Mineral Products Association)

The head of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, was in Buxton last week to listen to the concerns of the cement and lime industry. Representatives of local employers Tarmac, Lafarge and Lhoist met with him at a Cement Summit organised by local MP, 

They discussed several issues over a sandwich lunch at the Old Hall Hotel. These included:

• The high level of repetition and bureaucracy needed to apply for permission to burn innovative fuels such as tyre chips and meat and bone meal using proven technology.

• The level of tax (higher than anywhere else in Europe) on Recovered Fuel Oil, effectively preventing its use by the lime industry and its destruction in an environmentally sound way, thus posing a disposal problem for the future.

• The delay in publishing regulations under the Water Act to which quarries and cement plants will have to comply at short notice.

“All three issues concern a vital industry which is very concerned about its impact on the environment,” said Tom Levitt. “The cement and lime industries can make a major contribution to the clean and safe disposal of combustible waste and the reduction of the need for landfill and we should be making it easier for them to do so.”

Lord Chris Smith was a minister in Tony Blair’s first cabinet but became a cross-bencher when taking up his new post last year. He appreciated the companies’ desire to reduce waste. “I heard genuine and constructive concerns about these regulations and I will certainly see what we can do to address them,” he told the companies.

Following the meeting Lord Smith and Tom Levitt were taken on a tour of the Tarmac cement plant at Tunstead, the first time the Environment Agency boss had made such a visit. He heard of plans for major investment in a state of the art cement kiln.

“When growth follows this recession we will need a lot more cement and concrete,” said Tom Levitt. “We need to obtain this in a way which is environmentally responsible, which means keeping imports of cement products to a minimum. The companies which operate in High Peak want to be part of that win-win solution.”