CEMEX has launched its global-first circularity centre. Based in a recently restored former quarry south of Bogotá, Colombia, the site will become a model for CEMEX operations globally.
The 300-hectare property in Tunjuelo was used for more than 70 years as a source of building materials for Bogotá’s growth. By having excavations more than 50 metres deep, the land has been used in recent years as the primary recipient of demolition waste in the capital, allowing its ecological rehabilitation and the subsequent planting of a vegetal layer.
The CEMEX Circularity Centre comprises six components focused on reducing CO2 emissions as part of CEMEX’s Future in Action program:
Closure of quarry activities in the location
Recycling used cement bags to avoid their final disposal in landfills; the cellulose extracted from the bags is used for construction materials
Solid waste collection to replace fossil fuel to produce the company’s building materials portfolio
Collecting and crushing demolition waste for reuse in recycled aggregates
Reception and activation of excavation waste
Planning future urban projects in one of the most densely populated areas of the city in coordination with the Bogotá Mayor’s Office.
“This is a pioneering model for CEMEX in the construction materials industry globally, which we aim to position as a benchmark for circularity within the sustainable development of large cities in Colombia and the world,” said Alejandro Ramírez, president of CEMEX in Colombia and Peru. “A piece of land that supplied materials for Bogotá’s development for decades has received construction and demolition waste for its redevelopment and was transformed into a green area to the south of the city, an epicentre of the circular economy and an opportunity for urban development for the capital city of Colombia.”
The launch ceremony took place on 12 December 2022 and was hosted by Nadya Rangel, Minister of Habitat in Bogotá; Carolina Urrutia, Minister of Environment in Bogotá; and Alejandro Ramírez, President of CEMEX in Colombia and Perú.
CEMEX, the largest concrete producer in the western world, and a global leader in cement production, launched its Future in Actionprogramme in March 2020 to build a more sustainable, circular future, with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company. Since the launch of Future in Action, the company has achieved record-breaking CO2 reductions.
