- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
Company annual reports can sometimes be a turgid read, but every now and again they may include an exciting flash of something interesting, almost like seeing the flash of a metallic-blue kingfisher darting along a non-descript and over-grown ditch. However, the recent LafargeHolcim (LH) Annual Report 2017 was a very interesting read throughout, and nowhere more so than in the section on ‘Risk management,’ especially after its recent and ongoing travails in regards to the operation of its cement plant in Syria (see Page 69, Global Cement Magazine - June 2018).
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
The interview by Global Cement Magazine’s editor Peter Edwards with the president and CEO of the US Portland Cement Association on page 56 (Global Cement Magazine - May 2018) throws up some interesting points. Among them is the suggestion that cement and concrete are battling other building materials - notably wood - on a new front: that of sustainability. If you accept that we need to reduce our impact on the planet (who doesn’t?), then we really need to improve our sustainability and to ‘go green.’
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
The latest forecasts for urbanisation rates make for a shocking read. Cities around the world are growing due to high birth rates and due to the greater economic opportunities that cities seem to give to their inhabitants. Citizens around the world are giving up rural life and heading to the cities in search of easier living and greater access to education and healthcare and who can blame them? The reality, however, may be tougher than they imagine. Can cement and concrete help in making future cities more ‘liveable’?
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
Have a guess at how many rhinoceroses there are left on the planet. How many leopards? How many lions? Go on, have a guess.
I guessed 100,000, 100,000 again and two million for lions. Then I looked up the numbers on the internet and I was shocked. For all five species of rhino, there are in total around 30,000 individuals (but only 61 - 63 examples of the Javan rhino and 100 of the Sumatran rhino). The most common species, the white rhino, has about 20,000 individuals. There used to be millions of these things, wandering around, eating the greenery.1
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
I am enjoying ‘Don Quixote’ by Cervantes, even though it’s a massive book - I’m now 900 pages in, of a 950 page book. In particular, I’ve enjoyed the part where the apparent simpleton and uneducated rustic squire Sancho Panza is gifted the governorship of an ‘isle’ (it is in fact an isolated village), and rather than completely mess it up as everyone expects, he turns out to be a governor of rare sagacity and wisdom. He lasts only a week before his rumbling tummy makes him give up his post to return to his master, the knight-errant Don Quixote de la Mancha, the Knight of the Sad Countenance. Reading the book, it made me wonder, what would one do if you were made a cement plant manager for a week - ‘governor of your own isle’? This question might be moot, if you already hold that exalted position. However, if the magic wand suddenly made you ‘The Boss,’ what actions would you take?
