Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
MPA publishes sustainable development report 2018
12 December 2018UK: The MPA has released its Sustainable Development Report 2018 covering the performance of the local cement industry to 2017. Key indicators include a alternative fuels co-processing rate of 43.8% in 2017 compared to 39.2% in 2016. This is the second highest rate since 2010, just below 44% in 2013. It reported CO2 emissions from calcination (process emissions) of 465kgCO2/tPCe, a slight increase from 2016. Emissions of NOx, SO2 and particulate matter all fell or remained stable. Cement production from MPA members remained stable at 9.4Mt in 2017.
Bestway Cement outlines water conservation measures
10 December 2018Pakistan: Bestway Cement has promoted its environmental credentials following the Supreme Court’s mandated investigation into water usage by cement companies near the Katas Raj Temples in 2018. The cement producer says that all of its cement plants are ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management Systems certified. Specifically on the issue of water conservation, it has installed air-cooled condenser systems at two of its plants at Chakwal and Kallar Kahar respectively and it has built rain-harvesting ponds. In total the company has spent around US$14m on water conservation measures. Altogether it says that it has achieved 80% and 88% reductions in consumption of ground water for industrial use, respectively, at the two plants.
Other environmental measures the company has made include installing waste heat recovery (WHR) units at all four of its cement plants. Its total WHR capacity is 45.5MW giving it 28% of its total power needs. The company is recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Program for its initiative to reduce carbon emissions/footprint. It has also implemented tree plantation at its plants and surrounding areas, it uses drip irrigation and sewerage waste management and its head office in Islamabad has been certified as a Green Office by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Global Cement and Concrete Association takes form
28 November 2018Chief executives from over 30 companies attended the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) inaugural event last week in London. Its first president Albert Manifold, the chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH, laid out the line by saying that, “For the first time we have a global advocacy body.” He followed this up by emphasising that ‘our product’ is the most used man-made product in the world. Just like the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), the body the GCCA is partly-replacing, it is a CEO-led organisation. The target is very much about giving a global voice to the cement and concrete industries and the vertically integrated companies that produce these products.
Along with the head of CRH, the leaders of LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, CNBM, Votorantim, Buzzi Unicem and Eurocement, amongst others, were all on the attendance list too. That kind of representation gave the event a charged air and a real sense of intent. At present the association says it represents 35% of global cement production and its aim is to reach 50%. That compares to the 30% base that the CSI had.
Representatives from some major cement associations were also present, including Europe’s Cembureau, the Federación Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM), the Canadian Cement Association and the VDZ. The only thing stopping the US Portland Cement Association being there was reportedly the Thanksgiving holiday. Although not comprehensive, that kind of representation suggests serious interest from the regional cement associations. The word from the GCCA CEO Benjamin Sporton was that the GCCA is here to provide a global level of coordination to the advocacy and sustainability side of the industry dealing with global organisations like the United Nations (UN), development banks, other associations and non-government organisations (NGOs).
How this will work in practice has yet to be seen, but at the very least, the GCCA can take over the work of the CSI and run with it. The word from the attendees we spoke to was uniformly positive for the association. It was seen as a long-overdue move to finally give the industry some sort of uniform voice at a global scale. In this sense it is catching up with similar bodies in industries like wood and steel. One benefit from moving from the CSI to a full advocacy organisation is that the industry can actually talk about the good things it does rather than being limited to sustainability and environmental data reporting. It seems like a small change in focus but it’s a big shift in mind-set.
A cynic might suggest that the exercise is one of a dirty industry trying to wrest the Overton window, or window of public discourse, back from legislators facing mounting environmental pressure. The latest UN Emissions Gap Report for 2018, for example, reported this week that CO2 emissions rose in 2017 after four consecutive years of decline. This is the latest environmental report in a long line pointing out bad news. Yet, the GCCA’s unwritten mantra, that concrete improves lives, is sound. Somebody or something needs to link it all up. That somebody might just be the GCCA.
A review of the inaugural annual general meeting and symposium of the GCCA will be published in a forthcoming issue of Global Cement Magazine.
Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement has launched a sustainability commission to support its Malaga cement plant and the surrounding community. The initiative is part of the company’s 2030 sustainability plan. It includes representatives from local neighbourhood associations, local government and environmental bodies. The commission will meet several times a year to foster an open relationship between the cement producer and its neighbours. It also intends to promote behavior based on the circular economy and the reduction of the unit’s carbon footprint. It will build on the company’s work with the Provincial Forum of Socially Responsible Companies of Malaga since its inception in 2013.
FLSmidth collaborates with Technical University of Denmark on sustainable process technology research
01 October 2018Denmark: Engineering company FLSmidth is working with insulation manufacturer Rockwool and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) on a research project to develop sustainable process technologies that will increase the use of renewable fuels and raw materials and reduce CO2 emissions. The project has received a Euro2.7m grant from Innovation Fund Denmark.
The project plans to investigate and optimise high-temperature processes throughout the entire production chain in both companies. The DTU holds experience in this field from the CHEC research centre at DTU Chemical Engineering, which has focused on combustion research and emission abatement in recent years. FLSmidth plans to explore using alternative cement formulas and production methods to enable the company to launch more efficient technologies for using renewable fuels and reducing emissions. Rockwool intends to lower CO2 emissions and reduce its fuel consumption to make its production become more sustainable.
Taiheiyo Cement secures place in Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index for fifth year in a row
27 September 2018Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has been selected to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index for the fifth consecutive year. The company was first chosen in 2014. The index is the Asia Pacific version of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Indices and it serves as a benchmarks for socially responsible investment.
Cementos Argos preserves place in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
14 September 2018Colombia: Cementos Argos has been ratified for the sixth consecutive year as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), which recognises good practices in terms of economic, environmental and social sustainability of the companies registered in stock markets. Celsia, a Grupo Argos energy subsidiary, was also included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA) - Pacific Alliance, which recognises companies with the best economic, social and environmental practices in Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia. Grupo Argos and Cementos Argos were also included.
"Being ratified as world leaders in sustainability by Dow Jones is the result of our conscious investment, our commitment to a responsible operation of all our businesses, and our permanent interest to positively impact society, respecting our planet," said Jorge Mario Velasquez, chief executive officer (CEO) of Grupo Argos.
In 2018 more than 3500 companies around the world were invited to participate, but only 317 were selected as members of the worldwide DJSI.
Where next for global cement associations?
08 August 2018The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) announced this week that it intends to take over the work done by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). This marks a change in how the cement industry as a whole approaches sustainability and in the wider context how the sector manages itself on the world stage.
The CSI was set up in 1999 with the aim of advancing a sustainability agenda for the cement industry. It has done this by laying out strategy for the industry to follow in the form of technology roadmaps and publishing its ‘Getting the Numbers Right’ (GNR) data on CO2 and energy performance information. By 2018 it had 24 cement company members composed of nine core members, 14 participating members and one affiliate member. It represents around 2.4Bnt/yr of global cement production capacity or over half of the world production, according to Global Cement Directory 2018 data.
The idea behind the membership was that the core members are all members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and that the members would contribute ‘modest’ funds to run the organisation. That last point about WBCSD membership is worth noting because members need to stick to conditions such as publishing an annual sustainability report and agree to have the sustainability report reviewed and benchmarked by the WBCSD.
Figure 1: Outline of selected current global cement organisations with a sustainability remit. Source: Association websites, Global Cement Directory 2018.
The GCCA, which formed in early 2018, says it had formed a ‘strategic’ partnership with the WBCSD and that it will take over the work previously done by the CSI from the start of 2019. Although there’s no mention so far whether GCCA members have to actually become WBCSD members with all that this entails. At present the GCCA consists of nine major international cement producers, including over half of the world’s top 10 producers by production capacity, with a production base in every inhabited continent except Antarctica. Roughly speaking it represents just under 2Bnt/yr of global cement production capacity or about half of the world’s total.
Now where this starts to get confusing is that other cement associations exist with their own established advocacy roles and sustainability agendas. The established players include the various regional associations such as the Portland Cement Association in the US, Cembureau in Europe and so forth. The multinational ones also often represent national bodies.
Then there is the World Cement Association (WCA), which formed in 2016. This independent body is a private company run out of an office in London, UK with non-profit aims. It has 45 members but only three quarters are actual cement producers. Of these most are single-country cement manufacturers. The glaring standout is China National Building Material (CNBM) and its subsidiaries, representing over half of the association’s member’s cement production capacity. The production capacity of the WCA’s members is around 1Bnt/yr or a quarter of the global total. More than half of this comes from CNBM and its subsidiaries. Unsurprisingly then that Song Zhi Ping, the head of CNBM, is the president of the WCA. It too supports a sustainability agenda, saying that it, “seeks to co-operate with the WBCSD, CSI and regional and national Cement Associations.” What is noteworthy is how few of the current members of the WCA joined the CSI previously.
There is definitely a need for a global organisation advocating sustainability issues for the cement industry and by taking over the work of the CSI and the GCCA has cornered this part of what a global cement association might do. However, the GCCA represents less cement production capacity than the CSI did. The main omissions are the Indian producers, led by UltraTech Cement, as well as others. It seems likely that they will join the GCCA following the end of the CSI but there is no guarantee.
The other point arises when looking at these various cement associations is: who does what exactly? The CSI’s focus on sustainability gave it a purpose that it did well with a genuine appearance of independence. Its narrow focus also gave it a complimentary role to the existing national and regional associations. Global bodies like the GCCA and the WCA are clearly more into advocacy territory for their members. Also, a more general association approach like the GCCA and the WCA may clash with regional bodies like the PCA and Cembureau. Regional bodies seem better suited to the way governance works globally with regional groups such as the European Union (EU) or government departments in continental sized countries such as the US, China and India. However, a truly global cement body could respond better to coordinated environmental lobbying and fill in the gaps around the world in places with looser regional representation.
Sustainability is the immediate link between the CSI, the GCCA and the WCA. Indeed the WCA recently held a ‘Global Climate Change’ forum in Paris to discuss its own climate action plan. Yet, with the GCCA taking over the work the CSI does and the WCA saying it wants to cooperate with the CSI, the obvious outcome is that the GCCA will become the world’s apex cement association. It will represent the companies with the most cement production capacity, have a presence in every inhabited continent and take the lead on WBCSD issues. Beyond this though it will be interesting to see what, if anything else, the GCCA chooses to do.
Holcim Germany’s Beckum cement plant gains certificate from Concrete Sustainability Council
08 August 2018Germany: Holcim Germany’s Beckum cement plant has gained a silver sustainability certificate from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The company said that certificate is the highest that a cement plant can obtain. It certifies that the plant promotes transparency about the production process and supply chain as well as considering its impact upon the environment.
The company said that the unit is the first LafargeHolcim cement plant in the world to have CSC certification. It also plans to certify cement grinding plants and ready mix plants in Germany in the near future.
Global Cement and Concrete Association to take over work of Cement Sustainability Initiative
03 August 2018UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has formed a strategic partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to facilitate sustainable development of the cement and concrete sectors. As part of the new agreement, the work carried out by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) will transfer from WBCSD to the GCCA on 1 January 2019 with activities managed out of the GCCA’s London offices. The new partnership will also create synergies between work programmes to benefit both the GCCA and WBCSD and their respective member companies.
“Transferring the activities of the CSI to the GCCA is a logical step and further underlines the cement and concrete sector’s commitment to advance sustainable development across the construction cycle. As the authoritative worldwide voice of the cement and concrete sector, the GCCA is ideally placed to take this work to the next level, building on the strong foundations established by WBCSD,” said Albert Manifold, chief executive officer (CEO) of CRH and GCCA President.
The CSI, which was established in 1999 and currently operates under the auspices of WBCSD, is a global effort by 24 major cement producers to advance sustainable development. Over its 19-year history, the CSI has focused on understanding, measuring, managing and minimising the impacts of cement production and use by addressing a range of issues including: climate change, fuel use, employee health and safety, airborne emissions, concrete recycling and quarry management.