International Business Briefs: aluminium plant, oil waste, biosolids compost and water management software

The Brazilian aluminium plant, Alumar alumina, owned by US company Alcoa, has been selected for inclusion in a case study report on fostering sustainable development in developing countries. The report is being shared with delegates at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Alumar’s emissions are currently 70% below legal requirements, and the plant is often celebrated by Alcoa for its waste and land management achievements.

Houston company USFilter Operating Services Inc has announced that it has acquired Texas firm MCS Technologies, a company that carries out refinery waste separation and treatment services. MCS’s operations will now be combined with those of USFilter’s subsidiary, USFilter Scaltech, in order to create an outsourcing services company capable of handling all phases of the management, separation and secondary treatment of waste produced by oil refineries.

A second Houston company, Sunagro Technologies Inc, which provides water and wastewater residuals management services, has announced the completion of the acquisition of Earthwise Organics Inc and Earthwise Trucking. Earthwise is one of the largest Class A biosolids compost marketing companies in California, and has sold approximately 500,000 tonnes of biosolids compost over the past eight years.

And finally, software firm Haestad Methods has announced that it is to promote its water resources software and services in India. Haestad has also announced the addition of the Scenario Control Center to the company’s WaterGEMS water distribution modelling software to assist in the management of ‘what-if’ situations.