In 2021, Holcim became the first cement company to sign the business ambition for 1.5°C with its 2030 target validated by SBTi. Recognising the need for action, Holcim collaborated with the SBTi to develop industry guidance for targeting 1.5°C. As co-chair of the Global Cement and Concrete Association 2050 vision work group, Magali Anderson, Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer facilitated the creation of the first industry-wide, CEO-led roadmap to net zero concrete for the cement sector, representing 80 %of global cement production outside of China. 

Alongside work to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25 per cent through traditional levers like replacing fossil fuels that are used to heat up the kiln by wastes – the company focused a large part of its R&D and innovation efforts to solve the technical challenges of cement decarbonisation.

It is during the production of clinker – the primary component of cement - when most CO2 emissions associated with cement occur, accounting for 65% of total scope 1 emissions. The first lever is to use of alternative sources of decarbonated materials – waste materials and by-products from other industries- in the reaction to replace some of the limestone and further reduce the chemical reaction’s CO2 emissions. Another lever is to reduce the amount of clincker content in the cement with alternative mineral components. This can be achieved not only from recycling construction and demolition waste or byproducts from other industries but also by investing in calcined clay facilities and developing novel cements with new binders.

In addition to activities to reduce carbon intensity of the cement, net-zero carbon cement will globally require effective Carbon Capture and Usage or Storage (CCUS). Holcim is currently piloting over twenty CCUS projects across Europe and North America over the next 10 years to reach the scalable and cost-effective solutions the industry needs to meet the net zero ambition.

“We need 10 years to make [Carbon Capture and Storage] work. The problem is, we don’t yet know how will work at scale, so we are trialing many [at once] to learn as fast as we can.”

Magali Anderson, Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer at Holcim