Mannok presentation well received at WCA Annual Conference

Nanjing conference provides opportunity for Mannok to showcase their progress on emission reduction 

THREE members of the Mannok cement team – Damian Reilly, Sean McCusker, and Michael McDonnell – recently attended the World Cement Association (WCA) Annual Conference 2024 in Nanjing, China, where cement general manager Damian Reilly gave a presentation to the 400 conference delegates.

Mannok’s growing reputation as a company that is moving in the right direction in terms of its roadmap towards decarbonization has seen it increasingly involved in thought-leadership events such as this on the world stage.

Mr Reilly had previously presented at the last WCA Conference in Dubai and Mannok’s group head of sustainability, Paul Monaghan, gave a presentation at the World Cement EnviroTech Conference in Lisbon in March.

Mr Monaghan and Mannok chief operating officer Kevin Lunney, who is a WCA director, also attended the Invest NI Net Zero Exchange to Singapore and Malaysia.

The WCA Annual Conference in China provided another opportunity for Mannok to showcase the progress being made by the company as it aims to meet an ambitious interim emission reduction target of 35% by 2030 while paving the way for net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.

The conference brought together global experts and C-suite leaders from not only the cement and concrete industry, but also the industrial decarbonization, finance, and technology sectors.

Mr Reilly’s presentation at the conference, ‘Experience of the Challenges of Implementing a Net Zero Roadmap’, was very well received by the delegates. ‘People were very impressed with what we are doing in terms of our roadmap to decarbonization and a lot of delegates, especially from Asian plants, asked us for the slides from our presentation,’ he remarked.

During their stay in Nanjing, the Mannok representatives visited Southern Cement’s Model plant.

There are similarities between this plant and Mannok’s own plant in Ballyconnell, with the Model plant having two 5,000 tonne/day kilns with a total workforce of 220, including 30 contractors.

Mr Reilly was very impressed with certain aspects of the Model plant but also stressed that there are areas where Mannok are much more advanced.

‘Technology wise, their plants are much more advanced, while the landscape, the plant maintenance were all eye-catching. The whole emphasis is on lean and 5S’s. There is a focus on preventative maintenance and there is also a high regard for health and safety of employees on site,’ he said.

‘Health and safety is obviously very important for us too; we have achieved ISO 45001 certification and there was a lot of work put in by everyone on site along with group H&S into achieving certification.

‘Our journey has only just begun on lean and 5S’s and that is something we will progress and focus on, but in terms of our roadmap to decarbonization and our use of alternative fuels, we are much further down the road.’

‘I believe the trip was very beneficial and it also affirmed that we are doing the right things at our plant,’ concluded Mr Reilly.