Sustainable Development

Partnership with the WWF

Cement production is responsible for most of Lafarge's greenhouse gas emissions. Manufacturing alone accounts for 98% of the Group's CO2 emissions.

Lafarge is aware of the challenge which climate change presents for the entire planet. In 2001, the Group committed itself to ambitious objectives in the framework of a pioneering partnership with the WWF. Lafarge has fulfilled in advance its objectives to reduce:

• absolute gross emissions* by 10% in industrialized countries,
• net emissions* by 20% per ton of cement produced worldwide.

In 2009, the Group began the process of building on these achievements through the detailed planning of new Sustainability Ambitions relating to climate change.

(* Gross/net emissions: net emissions equal gross emissions minus emissions related to the burning of waste.)

Lafarge's resources

To meet these objectives, the Group is:

• reducing energy consumption,
• modernizing its plants and constantly improving its industrial processes to use alternative energy sources,
• using alternative fuels,
• using industrial waste, particularly slag, fly ash and pozzolan, to manufacture cement. For example, certain cement additives can partially replace clinker, which reduces CO2 emissions.

Results:

• the Group's global net CO2 emissions per ton of cement fall by 20.7% between 1990 and the end of 2009,
• the Group's absolute level of CO2 emissions in industrialized countries fall by 37,7% between 1990 and 2009.
  

Lafarge also invests in research to:

• develop clinker which produces less CO2,
• perfect processes which make more efficient use of energy,
• optimize the composition of concrete and improve recycling.

The construction sector as a whole consumes a large amount of energy. The building is the source of 40% of the CO2 emissions of developed countries.

As a responsible player, Lafarge seeks to reduce the environmental impact of construction and promote sustainable construction methods.

The Group addresses all actors in the value chain and participates in partnerships and collective actions, such as:

• the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development),
• the EEB (Energy Efficiency in Building) project,
• the Building Energy Foundation,
• UNEP (United Nations Environment Program),
• collaborative projects with renowned architects (Jacques Ferrier and the Hypergreen project, Marc Mimram and the "Living infrastructures" study).

Lafarge conducts a number of projects aimed at implementing Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol.

Three projects have already been recognized by the CDM Executive Committee:

• in Morocco, the Tetouan wind farm supplies 50% of the electricity used by the local Lafarge cement plant,
• in Malaysia, 5% of the thermal energy for the Rawang and Kanthan cement plants comes from biomass,
• in India, fly ash from conventional power plants is recycled for use in cement.

These 3 Clean Development Mechanisms provide annual savings of 160,000 tons of CO2, an environmental benefit equivalent to planting 10.6 million trees per year! The Group is studying new CDM projects.

In global terms, the cement industry is responsible for 5% of the CO2 emissions related to human activities. That is the reason why, beyond CDM, Lafarge promotes a global sectorial approach to reduce cement sector's CO2 emissions, notably within the CSI (Cement Sustainability Initiative).

The Group's industrial ecology approach is built around finding ways to add value to waste. The underlying principle is that waste products from certain industries can serve as energy or raw material resources for other industries. In 2009, alternative fuels such as waste and biomass represented almost 11% of the fuel used by the Group.

Promoting alternative energy sources

For 30 years, Lafarge has been developing solutions to reduce energy consumption and diversify supplies.

Examples of alternative fuel sources:

• biomass: rice husks in the Philippines, coffee pods in Uganda, shells from palm oil nuts in Malaysia,
• various waste products: plastics, solvents and old tires in Germany.

Using waste materials as an alternative to fossil energies has benefits for the Group and for local communities:

• Lafarge uses less fossil energy, reduces its fuel bill and reduces its dependence on the market for traditional fuels,
• the Group provides a service to the community by incinerating waste products that would otherwise be difficult and costly to eliminate.

This approach also has positive effects in terms of CO2 emissions. Biomass is neutral in terms of CO2 while placing waste material in landfill produces greenhouse gases.

Developing alternative materials

Clinker, a key ingredient in cement manufacture, can also be partially substituted by waste. By adding industrial residues such as recycled construction materials and products derived from other industries, it is possible to:

• reduce the use of natural, non-renewable raw materials,
• decrease CO2 emissions,
• reduce costs.