Switzerland: Holcim has invested in CO₂ mineralisation technology developer Neustark. Neustark aims to remove 1Mt of atmospheric CO₂ by 2030 and sequester it in recycled construction and demolition waste. The company’s technology achieved Gold Standard certification as a method of CO₂ removal in March 2022. Holcim says that its investment advances its group commitment to putting clean technologies to work towards achieving net zero.

Holcim’s Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said "At Holcim, we are working to decarbonise building for a net zero future, and Neustark's technology helps us reach this goal. After the successful demonstration of Neustark's solution in Switzerland, we are ready to scale up this carbon removal technology globally."

UK: Cemcor has migrated its existing SAP asset management system over to IBM Maximo Application Suite (MAS). Cemcor says that IBM MAS offers a 360°, real-time view of its operations across multiple sites, enabling the company to resolve maintenance challenges, optimise its assets, increase the lifespan of essential equipment and remove inefficiencies. Peacock Engineering delivered the new system and will continue to provide support services with the platform.

Peacock Engineering’s chief operating officer Matt Deadman said “We’re thrilled to be working with Cemcor over the course of the next three years. We have already completed the first stage of our change programme with the successful delivery of its new enterprise asset management system. MAS is one of IBM’s sustainability software solutions. It will provide Cemcor with a clearer view of its assets, which include heavy plant and processing equipment, and help in mitigating the current challenges found in its maintenance programme.”

UK: Hanson UK has launched a recycling business line to process construction and demolition waste. The business will supply recycled materials for use in Hanson UK’s operations.

CEO Simon Willis said “Promoting circularity by recycling, reusing and reducing the use of primary raw materials is crucial to reaching net zero. The development of a separate recycling business line will allow us to provide the most sustainable products to our customers through circularity and innovation, to enable building more with less. It is another significant step towards achieving our aim of being the industry leader in the supply of sustainable, circular products.”

Europe: The Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) has welcomed the EU’s new Empowering Consumers Directive. Under the directive, EU member states must enact laws preventing companies from labelling their products with climate claims based on offsetting. ECOS called the law a ‘significant measure against greenwashing.’ It called on the EU to further ensure that products neither rely on carbon credits, nor on contributions to sustainability projects, in calculating their impacts.

ECOS programme manager Elisa Martellucci said “The EU has taken aim at greenwashing. Climate neutrality claims based only on carbon offsetting are ambiguous and misleading for consumers because they are not linked to concrete efforts to combat the climate crisis. Instead, they rely on flawed carbon accounting practices that ‘write off’ greenhouse gas emissions. The amazing carbon emissions vanishing act is many companies’ dream – but emissions do not magically disappear. Policymakers have taken a strong stance against this deceptive practice.”