Concrete Products

JUL 2012

Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.

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NEWS SCOPE PRODUCERS Holcim on track to achieve sustainability targets The 2011 Holcim Corporate Sustainable Development Report shows that the Swiss construction materials giant Holcim Ltd. is on track to achieve its sustainability targets. The self-imposed targets for reducing dust and NOx emissions have been met, and Holcim re- mains a leader in the industry with the lowest CO2 emissions per metric ton of cement produced. For CEO Bernard Fontana, sustain- able development is very important, with the highest priority being occupational health and safety. In addition to emissions goals, the company cites these factors in North American and oversees businesses as contributing to its sustainability goals: • Strong decrease of the Injury Frequency Rate—The safety of Holcim employees and the employees of suppliers and subcon- tractors is critical to the success of the business. Holcim has improved the Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate by 79 percent since 2004, and aims to achieve a further reduction of 8 per- centage points by the end of 2013. • Significant reduction of CO2 emissions—The reduction of CO2 emissions and increasing energy efficiency remains an important area of focus. Since 1990, net CO2 emissions per metric ton of ce- ment produced have been reduced by 21.8 percent, which puts the Group on track to meet the target to reduce specific net CO2 emissions by 2015 by 25 percent below the 1990 benchmark. • Water management is becoming ever more important—Because of a growing global focus on maintaining biodiversity and handling important water resources properly, Holcim, in conjunction with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has devel- oped an innovative Biodiversity Management System and is working with IUCN on implementing the system throughout the Group. • New directive for employees of subcontractors—Holcim recently issued a Contract Workers Directive, formalizing the obligation of Group companies to comply with not only all applicable national regulations, but also meet the requirements of the UN Global Com- pact and those of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the core convention of which Holcim has long supported. The Sustainable Development Report 2011 and the presentation can be downloaded from www.holcim.com/sustainable. 18 | JULY 2012 WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM

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