Powtech, 27/9 - 29/9, Nuremberg, Germany. Leading trade fair for Powder & Bulk Solids Procssings & Analytics. Get Your Ticket Now!
Powtech, 27/9 - 29/9, Nuremberg, Germany. Leading trade fair for Powder & Bulk Solids Procssings & Analytics. Get Your Ticket Now!
Global Cement
Online condition monitoring experts for proactive and predictive maintenance - DALOG
Your Particulate and Gaseous pollution abatement partner - Thermax
  • Home
  • News
  • Conferences
  • Magazine
  • Directory
  • Reports
  • Members
  • Live
  • Login
  • Advertise
  • Knowledge Base
  • Alternative Fuels
  • Services
  • Jobs
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • About
  • Register
  • Trial subscription
  • Contact
News Who watches the cement plants?

Who watches the cement plants?

Written by David Perilli, Global Cement 13 August 2014
  • Print

The comic book series 'Watchmen' takes its title from the Latin phrase 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' which is translated as 'Who watches the watchmen?' Commonly used today to warn against government, police and judicial corruption, the saying might also apply to those groups who watch big industry such as the Atlas of Environmental Justice.

This initiative is an online database compiled by the Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade (EJOLT) to map environmental conflicts around the world. It's a great tool, it is professionally presented and the project is backed by the European Commission. EJOLT's goals are to give those fighting for environmental justice a voice and to gather data to allow policy change.

As ever the problem with any form of user-content database is who vets the submissions and how much of 'reality' does the data actually represent compared to a more curated project. The mass use of Wikipedia shows that these issues can be overcome to some extent, while user-submitted online hotel and restaurant reviews often suggest otherwise.

All three conflicts registered in the EJ Atlas in southern England, where the Global Cement office is based, offer incomplete or misleading data. The entry for the third runway expansion at Heathrow airport doesn't present the economic benefits of expanding the airport or what the alternatives are. Rightly, the activists will argue that they have significantly smaller resources compared to the big industrial multinationals to fight their corner. Unfortunately this shows in the EJ Atlas and the user-submitted data approach it uses.

At the time of writing only 15 cases are tagged as cement-related out of a total of 1154. This is far fewer cases than you might expect with no mention, for example, of any of the regular environmental scuffles the cement industry faces in North America. The cases it does list are mainly based in Latin America with other clusters in southern Europe and India. Of these, three have been mislabelled and are not even related to the cement industry. The rest are mainly concerned with pollution due to waste incineration and mineral extraction worries. The waste incineration listings have a certain irony about them considering that these cement plants are almost certainly praising themselves for their reduced carbon emissions!

In the online world big companies can sometimes be at a disadvantage to nimble activist campaigns. Journalists from national media outlets can easily find campaigns with a web or social media presence to provide counterpoint for editorial. A good example is the Stop Titan Action Network that formed to fight Titan America's cement plant in Castle Hayne in North Carolina, US.

If the EJ Atlas accrues more attention and/or carries on past its project deadline of 2015 then the problems with the atlas may be fixed as activists log more cases, industry refutes them and the moderators weigh up the arguments in line with the project's aims of environmental justice. As previous online examples have shown, engagement may be better than ignoring these kind of initiatives.

Last modified on 14 August 2014
Published in Analysis
Tagged under
  • Environment
  • GCW163
  • Atlas of Environmental Justice
  • Environmental Justice Organisations, Liabilities and Trade
  • Activism

Register for the Global Cement Weekly email newsletter

Global Cement Weekly is Global Cement’s weekly email newsletter. Keep up to date with cement industry news, analysis, diary dates and news of people in the sector.

Register >

Related items

  • Solusi Bangun Indonesia’s Andalas cement plant secures Green PROPER rating
  • Ghana Standards Authority alleges illegal cement production by Empire Cement
  • Environmental activists oppose Holcim quarry expansion in Switzerland
  • Catalan court orders closure of LafargeHolcim España’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant
  • China to set cement production energy efficiency benchmark
back to top
“AI
“Loesche
“Airscape
Acquisition Cemex China CO2 concrete coronavirus Export France Germany Government grinding plant HeidelbergCement Holcim Import India Lafarge LafargeHolcim Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Plant Product Production Results Russia Sales Sustainability UK Upgrade US
« August 2022 »
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31        



Sign up for FREE to Global Cement Weekly
Global Cement LinkedIn
Global Cement Facebook
Global Cement Twitter
  • Home
  • News
  • Conferences
  • Magazine
  • Directory
  • Reports
  • Members
  • Live
  • Login
  • Advertise
  • Knowledge Base
  • Alternative Fuels
  • Services
  • Jobs
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • About
  • Register
  • Trial subscription
  • Contact
  • Conferences & Webinars >>
  • Global Ash
  • Global CemBoards
  • Global CemCCUS
  • Global CemEnergy
  • Global CemFuels
  • Global CemPower
  • Global CemProcess
  • Global CemProducer
  • Global Cement Quality Control
  • Global CemTrans
  • Global ConChems
  • Global Concrete
  • Global FutureCem
  • Global Gypsum
  • Global GypSupply
  • Global Insulation
  • Global Slag
  • Global Synthetic Gypsum
  • Global Well Cem
  • African Cement
  • Asian Cement
  • American Cement
  • European Cement
  • Middle Eastern Cement
  • Magazine >>
  • Latest issue
  • Articles
  • Editorial programme
  • Contributors
  • Link
  • Awards
  • Back issues
  • Subscribe
  • Photography
  • Register for free copies
  • The Last Word
  • Websites >>
  • Global Gypsum
  • Global Slag
  • Global CemFuels
  • Global Concrete
  • Global Insulation
  • Pro Global Media
  • PRoIDS Online
  • Social >>
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

© 2022 Pro Global Media Ltd. All rights reserved.