What is Cementos Argos using the waste from the Estéreo Picnic 2024 Festival for?

In search of contributing to the mitigation of climate change, Argos, a cement company of Grupo Argos, and Sistema Verde, an important waste-to-fuel transformer in Colombia, joined together to take advantage of nearly 27 tons of garbage generated during the Estéreo Picnic music festival, which took place between March 21 and 24, in Bogotá.

The waste, which is equivalent to about 700 120-liter cans; They include plastics, Styrofoam, cardboard, paper, not susceptible to recycling, will be transformed by Sistema Verde into alternative fuel to be used by Argos in its Cartagena plant for the operation of its cement kilns, which guarantee a sustainable cycle closing process.

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The above, aligned with its objective of reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases and preventing this material from being disposed of in landfills.

“We are pleased to be part of this alliance with which we join the global need to join forces to make adequate use of waste in a safe manner, controlled and clean. Our goal as a company is to dispose of more than 300,000 tons of waste per year and with actions like this, we continue to contribute to achieving this objective, aligned with our climate change strategy, which seeks to reduce by 2030 29% of our CO₂ emissions for each ton of cementitious material produced,” said Mauricio Giraldo, director of Alternative Resources at Cementos Argos.

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“For Sistema Verde it is a pride to work hand in hand with organizations that, like us, believe that there are other ways to be sustainable, giving the planet a break through actions that contribute to generating significant changes.

Argos said that the environmental management of the Estéreo Picnic exemplifies the importance of being responsible with waste that we generate and to carry out adequate management so that they can be classified, transformed and used,” said Jorge Diez, manager of Sistema Verde.

The combustion process carried out in cement kilns has special characteristics that ensure the complete destruction of toxic components and the use of their energy. In addition, the special equipment installed for this purpose has excellent filtering systems and
gas cleaning that guarantee that waste disposal is carried out in a safe, controlled and clean manner.

Waste from the Estéreo Picnic that will be used in the combustion of the Argos cement kilns at the Cartagena plant.

Courtesy

Between 2019 and 2021, at its Cartagena plant, Cementos Argos managed to issue around 20,000 carbon credits thanks to the reduction of CO₂ emissions for this same value with the co-processing of 30,000 tons of urban and industrial waste. The transformation of waste continues to grow in this operation, closing 2023 with the correct disposal of nearly 25,000 tons of material.