Austria's cement industry increased its use of alternative fuels in clinker production again in 2015. According to the annual sustainability report of the Austrian cement industry association VÖZ, the share of substitute fuels used for thermal energy input last year rose to 76.1 per cent. In 2014 the substitution rate was 75.5 percent, while as recently as 2010 it amounted to just 62.8 per cent.
The production of cement itself also allows numerous opportunities for the utilisation of secondary raw materials such as brick chippings, blast furnace slag and fly ash. For every tonne of cement produced in Austria in 2015, VÖZ reports that about 466 kilograms of secondary materials – including alternative fuels – were used. In 2014 the figure was as high as 485 kilograms per tonne of cement, but stood at only 397 kilograms in 2010.