CEMEX has expanded its pioneering use of alternative fuels with an agreement with 3M in Panama to process its industrial waste. This collaboration aligns with CEMEX's Future in Action strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to a circular economy.
This agreement adds to CEMEX’s extensive capacity to repurpose society’s waste in its operations, reducing the carbon footprint of its production processes and the amount of waste sent to landfills. Decomposition in landfills produces methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. 3M will transfer approximately 30 tons of its waste per year that CEMEX will use as an alternative fuel to produce high-quality cement for the Panama market.
“With this agreement, we will ensure that our waste has a second use and carry out the co-processing of our waste, valuing the waste as an alternative fuel; helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, better waste management, and reduction in the use of fossil fuels,” said Enrique Aguirre, managing director of 3M in the Central America and Caribbean Region.
“We are very pleased to make this alliance that strengthens our company’s path towards our carbon neutrality goal by 2050. CEMEX and the building materials industry can play an important role in creating a truly circular economy. As evidenced by this agreement, we welcome this challenge and are moving aggressively to create the better circular world of the future,” said Jesús González, president of CEMEX South, Central America, and the Caribbean.”
3M will transfer waste from its manufacturing process with a high calorific value, such as residual foam and wool, to CEMEX. This high calorific waste allows cement kilns to achieve the high heat level necessary of 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,700 degrees Fahrenheit) for cement production.
A company that improves people’s lives through science, 3M has a deep commitment to sustainability. That is why it has taken various actions to make its manufacturing processes more efficient. The company expects to reduce its carbon emissions across all operations further globally, achieving a 50% reduction by 2030, an 80% reduction by 2040, and 100% carbon neutrality in all its operations by 2050.
As part of its Future in Action program, CEMEX is leading the path to carbon neutrality in the building materials industry and aims to deliver only net-zero CO2 concrete globally by 2050.
