Reducing emissions produced in the cement industry it is also a key strategy for the sector in Latin America. Also, offering increasingly specialized products becomes the priority of companies providing cement and concrete solutions in order to meet a more demanding market.
The top 10 companies in this subsector reached sales of more than 812 million dollars with Holcim Ecuador as the leader who’s most challenging objective is to achieve decarbonization and lead the sustainable transformation of the construction industry.
In the last two years, the company invested around 24 million dollars in projects for the decarbonization of their rotary kiln operations with the commitment to build progress for people and the planet. These include having the largest vehicle fleet in the country, the implementation of the first automated waste sorting plant in Samborondón and new projects to reduce the carbon footprint of its solutions with ECOPlanet cements.
For this year, according to Dolores Prado, CEO of Holcim Ecuador, new solutions will be presented to the market, including Hydromedia, a permeable concrete system that allows the recovery and use of water. There will also be new developments in the sustainable concrete ECOPact, which reduces CO2 emissions by 40% in its use.
Last March the Inter-American Cement Federation (FICEM) together with the Ecuadorian Institute of Cement and Concrete (INECYC), which among its partners includes Unacem, UCEM and Induatenas, presented the document called: Ecuador-FICEM Roadmap: Towards a low-carbon economy, this initiative is setting up the course for decarbonization in the cement industry in Latin America.
This Roadmap is already implemented in 80% of Latin American countries. The priority objective is that by 2030 the production of 1 ton of cement should not generate more than 520 kilograms of CO2 emissions.
For a particular cases, Unacem and Argos like Holcim are both part of the cement companies that are committed to the cement industry decarbonization in Latin America. Unacem which has a portfolio of companies in the cement, concrete, energy, and services businesses, with presence in Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and the United States, aims to achieve net emissions of 500 kg of CO2 per ton of cement by 2030. In 2023, the company’s emissions were 607 kg of CO2 per ton of cement.
In the case of Argos, after an audit process, the Science Based Targets (SBTi) initiative validated its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 21% by 2030, recognizing the validity of its climate change roadmap with specific proven projects. They are making progress on projects to optimize the use of clinker and energy efficiency, increase alternative fuels, reduce the clinker-cement factor and increase the use of natural gas.
Source: https://www.eluniverso.com/