Mbeya Cement inaugurates modern bag filter

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade Maria Bilia cuts a ribbon to officially inaugurate the Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania new ultra modern Bag Filter at the company’s plant in Mbeya, Friday 13th who is also the Acting Industrial Director in the Ministry of Industry and Trade. December. She is flanked by the Mbeya Cement Board Member Deodatus Ndunguru,

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade Maria Bilia gets a brief from Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania Plant Manager Vijay Komaragiri on how the ultra modern bag filter works. Looking on is the company CEO Catherine Langrency.

The Acting Industrial Director in the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mr Deodatus Nduguru and who is also a Board Member of the Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania (centre) speaks to the Deputy Permanent Secretary Maria Bilia (right) of the same Industry after the company launched a new ultra Modern Bag Filter on Friday 13th Minerals John Shija.

Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania has today inaugurated its new ultra modern Bag Filter that significantly reduces the stack emissions to 10mg/nm3 which is lower than the 2013 Tanzania Environmental Regulations of 50mg/nm3, and is in line with the Lafarge Industrial targets as well as the Global Environmental Standards.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony of the Bag Filter held at Songwe in Mbeya, the Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania Chief Executive Officer Catherine Langrency said the company has invested 1.5 million EURO (3 Billion TZS) in this project. ‘The inauguration of this bag filter further underlines Lafarge Tanzania’s commitment to continuous improvement plan and part of the Lafarge Group Sustainability Ambition 2020 which is to have responsible and environmentally friendly operations’, Langrency said.

Langrency said that Lafarge has adopted the Bag Filter technology to ensure that power interruptions do not damage the filtering system. ‘We are working with NEMC, communities around us, and our stakeholders to improve environmental conditions and lead in the cement industry in Tanzania on environmental excellence’, said Langrency.

The inauguration ceremony was officiated by Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing Maria Bilia, on behalf of minister Abdallah Kigoda, who commended Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania for the milestone achievement and urged Tanzanians to cultivate the culture of supporting local manufacturers by buying and utilizing their products. ‘This will help create more employment for our people ‘, she said.

The Mbeya Cement Lafarge Tanzania CEO said that the building material company yearns to increase its overall cement manufacturing capacity to 700,000 tones per year by adding a new cement mill, a clinker line upgrade and a new packing plant.

The project which will be completed in the second quarter of 2015, marks the 1st phase of the company’s expansion ambition in Tanzania and will have minimal disruptions to the production process to ensure that customers are not affected during the project implementation.

“This will increase the cement production capacity, enabling us to successfully contribute to meeting the growing demand for cement products, offers and solutions to address issues of housing for all including affordable housing’, she said.

She noted that by widening the product portfolio and improving its overall production process through the investment, Lafarge Tanzania will also be able to better support the growth of the mining sector in East/South East Tanzania and infrastructure projects such as roads and ports.