The transition towards a lower-carbon cement industry also depends on the ability to rethink how plants source and manage their energy. In a context of increasing energy market volatility and new geopolitical tensions, alternative fuels can play a role that goes beyond simply replacing fossil fuels.
This will be the focus of the speech by our President, Pier Cella Mazzariol, at the upcoming edition of Cemfuels 2026, taking place in Geneva on 23–24 September.
His presentation, entitled “Alternative fuel as a strategic element to survive geopolitical and energy turmoil. Solid Recovered Fuel from residual waste as a resilient pathway for low-carbon cement kilns”, will explore the role of Solid Recovered Fuels (SRF) produced from waste as part of a broader strategy for decarbonisation and energy security in the cement industry.
From fossil fuel substitution to energy security
For many years, the use of alternative fuels in cement plants was primarily associated with economic objectives and cost optimisation, with the environmental dimension progressively gaining importance over time. Today, however, Europe’s energy and geopolitical landscape is also changing the industrial perspective.
Coal and petcoke expose producers to international dynamics involving prices, availability, transportation, sanctions and instability along global trade routes.
In this context, an Alternative Fuel supply chain based on resources available closer to cement plants can help reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and exposure to their price volatility, while strengthening the resilience of industrial production.
SRF: from a waste management challenge to an energy resource
Solid Recovered Fuels (SRF) represent a point of convergence between two closely connected industrial challenges: on the one hand, the need to manage and recover value from waste; on the other, the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in energy-intensive industries.
Through sorting, treatment, bio-drying and preparation processes, residual waste can be transformed into a fuel with characteristics suitable for use in cement kilns. Fuel quality and consistency remain essential to ensure reliable performance and effective substitution.
The potential benefits therefore span several dimensions: economics, decarbonisation and energy security. The use of SRF can also contribute to diverting waste from landfill, reducing the impacts associated with its disposal.
A concrete opportunity for the cement industry
The substitution of fossil fuels with alternative fuels is already an established practice in the sector. In Europe, the average thermal substitution rate (TSR) through Alternative Fuels is around 58%, with some plants already reaching levels of up to 90%.
The challenge, therefore, is no longer simply one of technological maturity, which is already well advanced, but rather the ability to ensure fuel sourcing, quality and consistency, storage, transportation, dosing and feeding, while guaranteeing continuity and reliability in the production process.
This is precisely where our experience comes into play, with more than 25 years of know-how in Alternative Fuel handling and feeding systems.
Towards more resilient industrial systems
Decarbonising cement is therefore no longer simply a matter of replacing one fuel with another. It has also become a matter of industrial system resilience.
Effectively integrating waste recovery and alternative-fuel production can contribute simultaneously to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, limiting emissions associated with their combustion, reducing landfill disposal and strengthening energy supply security.
This is the perspective that Entsorga will bring to Cemfuels 2026, connecting energy transition, waste management and industrial competitiveness.
