Cemex unveils scheme to recycle pallets

Materials giant Cemex will now collect and re-use thousands of cement bag pallets which are currently dumped by builders merchants.

More than 250,000 pallets are currently thrown out or shredded every year. But Cemex is now linking-up with packaging specialist European Logistics Management (ELM) to try and collect and recycle at least a third of them.

ELM will collecting pallets on a regular basis from Cemex customers before making any necessary repairs and returning them to the firm ready for new cement deliveries.

A Cemex spokesman said : "The pallet collection system is part of the drive to improve our sustainable performance and will compliment the recent launch of factory-blended cement. We are pioneering the use of recycled materials in blended cements, CEM2 and CEM3, where the clinker content and associated CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 50% by incorporating by-products from other industries."