The factory’s environmental policy strives to minimise the environmental impact, recover its waste and prevent risks. Cementos Balboa along with Spain’s Cement Manufacturer’s Association [Agrupación de Fabricantes de Cemento] (Oficemen) and the sector’s federations of the majority trade unions UGT and CC.OO, have established the Comisión Autonómica de Seguimiento del Acuerdo de Valorización Energética in Extremadura, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions by fomenting the use of alternative fuels.

Cementos Balboa was designed and built using the Best Available Technologies (BAT´s), becoming the most modern plant in Europe and one of the most respectful towards the environment, also allowing for complete automation, from the reception of raw materials to product shipment.

The factory in Alconera has obtained the Integral Environmental Authorisation [Autorización Ambiental Integrada] (AAI), according to the resolution from 4 April, 2005 from the Dirección General de Medio Ambiente from Extremadura´s City Council. This Authorisation demands the most restrictive values in the sector in terms of emissions, immissions and any other type of possible pollution.

We have installed the most effective filters to avoid emitting dust particles into the crushing, transit and material storage areas. The installations have a total of 66 air filters that filter one and a half million cubic meters of air per hour (the same amount of air that two and a half million people breathe during this same time).

It also has a water treatment plant and a treatment station that, by reusing it throughout the process and in different internal company activities, allows us to not dump anything into the Public Hydraulic Infrastructure (PHI), known as Zero Waste Technology (taking full advantage of the water resources used, which are treated after use, and then reused.)

All of the main cement factory facilities are in enclosed buildings, considerably reducing the emission of particles into the atmosphere.

Regulation and Control of the Environment.

Cementos Balboa is one of the first industrial installations designed keeping in mind MTDs, which is necessary in obtaining the Autorización Ambiental Integrada (AAI) which imposes a series of regulatory and control conditions.

1. Continuous direct emissions control of the cement factory and its main emission points. The plant has control systems that measure the amount of particles emitted into the atmosphere in its main areas. These control systems are connected in real time to the air quality network in Extremadura´s City Council´s General Environmental Evaluation and Quality Management [Dirección General de Evaluación y Calidad Ambiental].

2. Immission Control, that is, the quality of air around the facilities. Cementos Balboa has carried out research on its dispersal, studying the behaviour of gases in its environment, temperature and wind dynamics and the air quality in the surrounding areas.