Buzzi Unicem online communication has been renewed with two sites!

On www.buzzi.com you will find all the information related to the Headquarters,

while information on Italy is available at www.buzzi.it

On 1 July 2018, the merger of Cementizillo SpA and Cementeria di Monselice SpA into Buzzi Unicem was completed.
Buzzi Unicem acquired full ownership of the Zillo group, a historic industrial group founded in 1882 by the Zillo family of Monte Xillo, taking over the cement division (2 integrated cement plants) and concrete division (about 40 batching plants), operating in North-East Italy.
Located in the province of Pordenone, the Fanna Plant is a state-of-the-art facility with efficient thermal and electrical systems, a high level of automation (Siemens PCS7), a permit to use alternative fuels, and a kiln capacity of about 2,200 tons/day. The Company benefits from a  large quantity of good quality raw material reserves located a few kilometers from the cement plant.
The Monselice Plant is located in the province of Padova and with about 1,900 tons/day it has a slightly lower capacity than Fanna, but it is just as efficient. The plant is well organized and clean, has a very stable kiln operation, and produces excellent clinker of consistent quality. For several years it had the distinction of being the first plant in Italy to use Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) technology to reduce NOx emissions. The raw materials for this plant come from a greater distance, but still at competitive cost and of excellent quality.
Almost 450,000 m3 of ready-mix concrete were sold in 2017, including approximately 60,000 m3 through associated companies. The batching plants mainly cover three different markets: the central and coastal regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the "motorway" section between Brescia and Verona in Lombardy, besides a few plants between Mantova and Parma.
In 2017 the Zillo group sold almost 900,000 tons of cement and over 250,000 tons of clinker. Produced at the two plants at optimized costs, logistics and customer service, these quantities were reached using more than 70% of the total clinker production capacity, which is among the highest rate in the sector in Italy.

The goal of the Cleanker (Clean clinker production by calcium looping process) project is to determine whether the carbon dioxide generated during the cement production cycle can be “captured” to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere, and so ultimately to help limit the greenhouse effect. 
The research is being funded by Horizon 2020 (H2020), the 7-year Framework Program (2014-2020) through which the European Commission supports the most promising research, innovation and technology transfer activities in Europe. 
The initiative, which involves 12 European and one Chinese partners, is coordinated by LEAP (Energy and Environment Laboratory Piacenza), a consortium operating in the energy and environment sector and supported by the Polytechnic Institute of Milan, the Catholic University of Milan and local authorities within the Piacenza region.    
The project was launched on 1 October 2017 and Buzzi Unicem’s Vernasca plant will host the world’s very first pilot system which is in an advanced state of design. The system will allow to test and validate the Calcium Looping (CaL) technology within the cement sector. 
All the parties involved are optimistic. This project will very likely have a significant impact in the global cement sector with a reduction in CO2 emissions and the achievement of the ambitious European objectives established by the Paris agreement (COP21).
For further information, please see www.cleanker.eu

On 30 January 2018, Buzzi Unicem renewed the quality management system certification for the company headquarters in Casale Monferrato and its production sites (Augusta, Barletta, Guidonia, Robilante, Settimello, Siniscola, Trino and Vernasca).
The certificate was issued by ICMQ in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 standard more than six months earlier than the required deadline (September 2018).
The work done during 2017 to adapt to the new standard was extensive: the risk-based thinking approach led us to prepare a more flexible and streamlined quality manual and to revise several operational procedures in alignment with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, such as: defining the context of the organization, identifying the parties involved and understanding their interests, analyzing and evaluating the risks, and managing change from the perspective of continuous improvement.  

On 2 March, Unical and the INGENIO firm organized a conference on the new Technical Standards for Construction (NTC) 2018 in Turin.
Sponsored by the National Association of Building Contractors of Turin (ANCE) and the Order of Engineers of Turin, the event opened with a message of greetings from Antonio Mattio, president of ANCE Turin, and Giulio Ramo Vaudano and Alessio Toneguzzo of the Order of Engineers of Turin. 
During the first part of the conference, Eng. Giovanni Cardinale, one of the creators of the NTC 2018, commented on the new regulations, followed by Prof. Francesco Biasioli who focused briefly on the importance of specifications and control in the world of concrete. Lastly, Unical reported on the new “concrete structure charts”: detailed technical instructions on how to build the main structural components. The “concrete structure charts” are also aimed at professionals and companies to help guide them in choosing the most suitable materials and provide instructions on how to correctly manage deliveries on site. During the second half of the conference, producers, builders and designers tackled the topic of collaboration, which is essential to ensure that an effective project can also result in a job well done. The meeting concluded in the evening to the full satisfaction of all the participants.  

The Council for the Promotion of the Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Turin celebrated its 30th anniversary in December 2017, thanking its sponsoring firms, including Buzzi Unicem, with a commemorative plaque and a lithograph.
Thanks to the continuous support of its sponsoring companies, the Council has worked hard over the last 30 years to bring about an artistic and cultural renaissance of the city, its greater metropolitan area and, more recently, also several sites outside the province.
Countless activities have taken place in the city, which have led to the restoration and promotion of various historic buildings, churches and monuments. These efforts have also been extended to the greater metropolitan area with works continuing at the Savoy residences of Stupinigi and Venaria Reale.
A couple of years ago, the Council turned its attention to a monument of industrial archeology located in Casale Monferrato, namely a clinker storage shed from 1938 known as the Paraboloid. This reinforced concrete building is the only remaining structure of the old cement plant that was located near the Citadella. The Council has initiated field surveys, commissioning an analytical metric survey of the underground areas of the building from the Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic of Turin. The data will allow a detailed analysis of the structure and an understanding of what will need to be done to restore and develop the old storage shed. Once it has been properly transformed and repurposed, the building could become a resource for the city.