Displaying items by tag: procurement

US: The Nevada Department of Transportation has approved the use of Portland limestone cement (PLC) for road construction and repairs. The department expects the move to reduce CO₂ emissions by 4000t/yr. It uses 45,000t/yr of cement in its projects. Local press has reported that transport contributed 35% of Nevada’s CO₂ emissions in 2022, making it the largest single source.

UK: The World Economic Forum and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), have released a Mission Possible Partnership Report which identifies the nations that are prioritising green public procurement. These are the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK, and select US states. The report titled ‘Low-Carbon Concrete and Construction - A Review of Green Public Procurement Programmes’ identifies a framework for how these six countries are demonstrating leadership in green public procurement of concrete and construction.

The first component of the framework is the foundation, which includes establishing standards for reporting emissions, databases and tools for tracking emissions and establishes baselines. The second part of the framework, procurement polices, builds upon and reinforces the foundation by setting policies that require environmental disclosures, mandate carbon limits, and incentivise low-carbon design, and use of low-carbon materials.

Approximately 7% of global carbon emissions come from cement, and about half of the cement used globally is procured by the public sector. Governments also spend US$11tn/yr on procurement, about 12% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and regulate the construction industry via building codes. Therefore, governments play a critical role in driving demand to decarbonise the concrete and construction sector to achieve net zero goals.

Matt Rogers, the chief executive officer of the Mission Possible Project said “The demand signals in the market for green industrial products are among the most important opportunities to accelerate the path to net zero across industrial sectors. For material sectors like cement and concrete, government procurement practices will play an especially important role. This report summarises the current best practices in government procurement for green cement across multiple markets. Insights like these provide the government procurement professionals practical tools and technical insights that they can use today to create demand-pull for the most innovative low carbon cement and concrete offerings in the market.”

US: The state governments of Arizona, Maryland and Vermont have approved the use of Portland limestone cement (PLC) in public construction projects. The rule changes bring the total number of states in which PLC may be used in this way to 44.

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has welcomed the decision. The association said "Widespread acceptance of PLC marks a significant step to reducing the carbon footprint of concrete construction and advancing the goals laid out in the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality."

US: The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) has approved the use of Portland limestone cement (PLC) in its projects. The California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) says that the move has the potential to eliminate 25,500t/yr of CO₂ emissions.

The CNCA plans to achieve cement and concrete carbon neutrality by 2045 through three priority actions. These are investment in promising and critical long-term technologies (crucially carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies), increased alternative fuel (AF) substitution and the acceptance of PLC for CalTrans projects. Thus, the latest CalTrans decision marks the establishment of one pillar of the CNCA’s ambitious plan for net zero.

World: The governments of Canada, Germany, India, the UAE and the UK have signed a commitment to support the development of markets for low-carbon cement and concrete in their countries. The governments will create market incentives for purchasers, review and update product standards to allow low-carbon materials to be used in all safe settings and promote their use through their public sector tendering rules.

World Cement Association (WCA) chief executive officer Ian Riley said “I’m delighted to see that governments are heeding our call for urgent action to accelerate decarbonisation of the cement industry around the world, and we look forward to hearing more details from the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE on the steps they will take.” He added “This commitment marks a hugely significant shift in mindset that we hope will be followed by other countries in the months ahead. When it comes to hard-to-abate industries like cement, it is vital to work together with governments to create the conditions in which we can get to net zero and beyond, as quickly as possible. We cannot do this alone in time.”

Thailand: Siam City Cement has signed a new contract with US-based SAP Ariba for the further digitisation of its end-to-end procurement processes by using the latter’s software products. The producer first partnered with the company for “sourcing, contracts, catalogues, supplier information management and supplier collaboration” in 2016. Following the latest release in August 2020, SAP Ariba’s products support the Thai language, “making it easier for buyers and suppliers to communicate and transact over Ariba Network.”

Head of group procurement Benjamin Goodwin said, “From the beginning, we saw our procurement transformation as an opportunity to bring more value to the organisation and to our network of suppliers in Thailand and beyond. Our recent renewal of SAP Ariba solutions is a result of the successful partnership cultivated over the years, which set us up to achieve process efficiencies and cost savings from automation, standardization and improved collaboration with suppliers. We look forward to continuing our journey with SAP Ariba.”