Displaying items by tag: certification

Ecuador: Sambito, the Ecuadorian environmental consultant, has endorsed the certification of two LafargeHolcim cement products as carbon neutral. Metro Ecuador has reported that both Agrovial and Base Vial, prepared at low heats for foundations and roads respectively, have 54% lower emissions than ‘traditional’ cement. Carbon neutrality was achieved by Holcim Ecuador’s ownership of the 6078 hectare Cerro Blanco Protected Forest, 2175 hectares of which suffices to offset the emissions from production of both products.

Algeria: Groupe des Ciments d’Algérie’s (GICA) Aïn el Kebira cement plant in Setif has been certified by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to produce oil well cement products. It has been award two certificates following a one-year audit, according to the El Moudjahid newspaper. Djamila Tamazirt, Minister of Industry and Mining, who was on a tour of the unit, said that the development would help the country to stop importing oil well cements. The country imports an estimated 0.2Mt/yr of oil well cement at a cost of nearly US$30m.

US: Nine of Cemex USA’s ready-mixed concrete (RMX) plants in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California have earned ISO 14001:2015 certification for their environmental management systems (EMS). The company says these are the first RMX operations in the country to achieve the designation.

The nine plants located in Berkeley, Concord, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, Union City and Santa Clara, California each received certification after Lloyd’s Register, an accredited third-party organisation, audited Cemex USA’s West Region management system at corporate and site level, verifying that it conforms to the standard. In addition to the plants, Cemex USA’s Livermore office also earned the certification.

“Effective environmental management systems are critical in helping our operations meet and exceed our environmental and sustainability goals. By following well-established standards of ISO 14001:2015, our operations can continue to build on their successes while serving as inspiring examples for others to follow across the US,” said Cemex USA president Ignacio Madridejos.

Earlier in 2010 Cemex’s Clinchfield cement plant in Georgia became the first Cemex operation in the US to achieve ISO 14001:2015 certification. The company is currently in the process of achieving the certification at several other of its operations in cement, ready-mix and aggregates across the country.

Netherlands: Holcim Nederland Bouwmaterialen has recevied certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) for its five concrete plants. The certification process was handled by Kiwa Netherlands.

Nepal: The government has approved changes to allow domestic cement to be labelled under 33, 43 and 53 grades. Previously cement could not be certified higher than 33 grade due to a lack of legal provision, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper. The extended quality certification process will be managed by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology.

Before this latest change some local manufacturers were selling 43 and 53-grade products despite lacking certification. Importers have also benefited from the lack of legal clarity over higher strength grades of cement. It is hoped that the new regulations will reduce imports.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem says that its Unical subsidiary is the first national concrete producer to earn silver level RSS certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council. The accreditation asserts that a company meets criteria for sustainable practices and operates in a sustainable, environmentally positive manner. Unical’s Strada Berlia concrete batching plant in Turin received the certification in June 2019. The CSC procedure also included certifying the cement produced by Buzzi Unicem’s Robilante Cement plant and the aggregates from Ceretto quarry. The certificate was issued by ICMQ, the Italian Certification Body member of CSC. Unical manages more than 100 concrete plants in Italy.

France: Cem’In’Eu has obtained NF hydraulic binders certification for its Aliénor plant in Tonneins from the Technical Association of Hydraulic Binders. It covers CEM I 52.5 R cement. The cement producer is currently seeking NF certification for other types of cement in its product range. The latest certification follows ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 accreditation at the cement grinding plant.

Russia/Ukraine: Dyckerhoff cement plants in Russia and Ukraine have gained OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 certification in occupational safety. The OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 standards provide for a safe and healthy workplace environment and set forth guidelines for continually identifying and controlling health and safety risks, reducing accidents and improving overall performance.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria’s Oggaz cement plant has been awarded ISO 14001:2015 certification for environmental management, according to the El Watan newspaper. The plant has a total cement production capcaity of 3.8Mt/yr, comprising 3.2Mt/yr of gray cement and 0.6Mt/yr of white cement. The unit also has a waste treatment facility.

UK: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) is formally joining the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). By doing so it is adding its support to the only world-wide industry specific system that certifies the sustainability performance of concrete plants and their supply chain across the globe. Developed in conjunction with social and environmental stakeholders, the CSC is the industry recognised authentication system, with more than 160 plants certified to its standards across eight different countries.

“We are delighted at the decision of the GCCA to champion the many sustainability benefits of concrete by putting their global reach behind the CSC. We look forward to reinforcing and accelerating our work with their support,” said CSC chairman, Christian Artelt.

Clients, developers and contractors can be assured of socially and environmentally responsible practices through the concrete supply chain when specifying CSC certified concrete. Internationally recognised sustainable project assessment methods such as BREEAM and DGNB credit design teams and their projects with points when CSC certified concrete is specified and procured.