Lafarge Malaysia Invests RM80 Million in Bag Filters To Enhance Sustainability

KANTHAN, 28 August 2018 – Lafarge Malaysia Berhad today commissioned the new bag filter installed at the Kanthan plant to enhance sustainability, consistent with efforts to care for the environment and community.

This RM20 million investment in the plant in Perak is part of the RM80 million group-wide allocation by Lafarge Malaysia to optimise operational efficiency while controlling dust emission in all three of its integrated cement plants across Malaysia.

This recent outlay represents Lafarge Malaysia’s second major investment at the Kanthan plant within the span of three years, following the installation of a vertical cement mill in 2016 for RM180 million.

The bag filter system replaces the old electrostatic precipitator dust control system and is a more efficient industrial solution to address dust emission. The bag filter captures dust particles, releasing only filtered air into the environment. The bag filter is cleaned at pre-programmed intervals and the dust particles are channeled into hoppers to be recirculated into the kiln process for efficient material utilisation.

The commissioning was officiated by Perak State EXCO – Investment, Industry and Corridor Development, YB Dato’ Seri Ir Haji Mohammad Nizar bin Jamaluddin who commended Lafarge Malaysia on their continuous efforts on environmental protection and compliance with Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DoE) guidelines.

YB Dato’ Seri Ir Haji Mohammad Nizar said, “Lafarge has been operating here for over 50 years and is part of the community, providing employment to locals and contributing to the development of Perak. This investment is another commitment by a valued investor in Perak, who is also bringing in global best practices. This investment into better technology will address concerns on dust emission from a cement plant. This is particularly important as Perak is home to the most number of cement producing plants in Malaysia.”

Commenting on the new installation, Mario Gross, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Malaysia Berhad said, “Health, safety and environment is one of our core principles in line with LafargeHolcim’s 2030 Plan for Sustainability. This investment underlines our unwavering commitment to responsible and sustainable operations as we ensure the health and safety of our employees and the communities we operate in. We are fully committed to building a sustainable business and are ready to work alongside the communities, organisations and government to achieve this.”

The Kanthan plant began operations in 1964 and has been a mainstay in the local community ever since. The plant provides full-time employment to ~200 people and it is estimated that around 10,000 people (including families) depend on Lafarge activities through direct, indirect and induced employment.