Russia: Heidelberg Materials said that it plans to expand in Russia after previously saying that it had halted investments in the country due to the war in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg. The company is planning a US$200m expansion of its plant near St. Petersburg. Heidelberg said in a statement “It is a self-financed project of the local subsidiary related to environmental and CO₂ constraints. It does not constitute an investment by Heidelberg Materials.” There is reportedly no evidence that the company broke any laws or sanctions, and it previously said that it operates a ‘pure local business in Russia, on a limited scale.’

It operates three cement plants in Russia with a total capacity of 4.7Mt/yr.

Libya: Libya’s Privatisation and Investment Board (PIB) reported that its chair, Abdelaziz Al-Shawish, held a meeting with representatives of Lucky Cement to discuss the possibility of establishing a cement plant in the coastal city of Khoms. The PIB said that this comes as part of its efforts to attract investments and strengthen the industrial sector in Libya. The PIB said that the plant would have a production capacity of 2.5Mt/yr, which would contribute to meeting the local market's cement needs, supporting development and reconstruction programmes, and promoting industrial development in the country.

The two parties discussed the technical and logistical aspects of the project, as well as mechanisms for joint cooperation, in preparation for completing the necessary studies and procedures to move forward with the project's implementation.

US: Demolition has started at the Permanente cement plant near Cupertino, a site that repeatedly ‘ran afoul’ of environmental regulations before it officially closed three years ago, according to Mountain View Voice news. Heidelberg Materials North America, owner of the cement plant through its subsidiary Lehigh Southwest Cement, recently announced that it secured the necessary permits and a contractor to move forward with demolition. The plan is to remove approximately 40 structures on a 50-hectare site, according to a press release. This is only a small portion of the larger 1416-hectare site that includes Permanente quarry, also owned by Heidelberg Materials.

“Since we formally announced the permanent closure of the cement kiln in 2022, we have prioritised listening to residents, businesses and other local stakeholders so we could gather input and feedback on how the site could provide value to the community in the long-term,” Heidelberg Materials executive David Perkins said. “The commencement of demolition marks a significant step forward in this process.”

In the past 15 years, there have been multiple lawsuits filed against the quarry for discharging toxic metals and violating water, air and noise pollution standards, including from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California. Santa Clara County also found a variety of violations at the cement plant and issued more than 2000 citations from 2012 to 2021. In 2021, a proposal to mine the Permanente Ridge was reportedly ‘the final straw’, according to Joe Simitian, who sat on the county Board of Supervisors. He said that it would have eliminated ‘something like 8 hectares of undisturbed space,’ protected by a nearly 50 year old agreement. In 2020, the plant’s operations were paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before permanently closing in 2023 amid continued county pressure. Excavation at the quarry was also halted that same year. In an effort to rehabilitate the area, county officials broke ground on the Permanente Creek Restoration Project in mid-2025 to remove toxic mine waste and restore miles of watershed in Cupertino.

“The community is very excited about moving forward with the demolition, the reclamation and restoration of the land there,” supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga said. “Heidelberg has been very, very communicative and collaborative with the community, letting us know what they’re doing and taking a lot of input.”

The plan to restore the entire 1416-hectare area to its natural habitat will not happen anytime soon, however. The process is expected to take 40 years to complete. “It took us more than 100 years to get to this point,” Simitian said. “It’s going to take a little while to restore and reclaim the site. That’s the hard truth.”

Austria: The domestic cement market has declined by around 25% over the past three to four years since the end of Austria’s recent construction boom, according to the Association of Austrian Cement Producers (VÖZ). Nevertheless, cement plants produced 4.53Mt/yr of cement in 2025 - a 0.4% year-on-year increase from 2024. Although CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement fell below 470kg for the first time, the sector’s total CO₂ emissions rose by 2.6% to 2.14Mt.

Sebastian Spaun, managing director of the Association of Austrian Cement Producers (VÖZ), said "The fact that Austrian plants have nevertheless produced slightly more cement recently is solely due to additional exports. However, this strategy cannot be sustained in the long term."

The fact that emissions rose more sharply than cement production itself is attributed to higher clinker production. At 467kg of CO₂ per tonne of cement, domestic production is among the lowest-emission in the world, according to the VÖZ. However, the industry has to compete with companies whose products are subject to much less stringent regulations.

"The Austrian cement industry has done its homework and has been investing hundreds of millions of euros for years in decarbonisation, the circular economy and innovative CO₂ capture technologies," said Spaun. "Local waste cycles now provide the energy for clinker production, and fossil fuels have been phased out of cement plants by around 90%."

The association puts the thermal substitution rate at 88.8%. Fossil fuels are largely being replaced by non-recyclable waste materials. In addition, alternative raw materials are used in clinker and cement production. 25% of the raw materials used come from recycled construction waste from old buildings. In total, the domestic cement industry utilises around 550kg of substitute materials per tonne of cement produced.

Spaun added “Without CO₂ storage, pipelines and affordable industrial electricity, zero emissions by 2040 will remain a pipe dream."