Decarbonise cement production across the value chain

Submitted through the COP31 Sustainable Transformation Awards · SKD Türkiye (WBCSD Global Network Partner)

The company is a producer in the cement and construction materials sector, with more than 1,000 employees and operations in seven countries.

Cement is a hard-to-abate sector. Process and fuel emissions are high, while urbanisation continues to raise demand for durable infrastructure. The company therefore had to meet that demand with a lower carbon footprint, an outcome that no single plant upgrade could deliver.

Carbon performance has also become a commercial condition. It influences which products customers will purchase, the terms on which lenders provide sustainable finance, and the company's exposure to climate regulation across the markets in which it operates.

Location of the initiative: Türkiye, with plants including Buñol, Spain and Mannok, Ireland; operations in seven countries

The From Grey to Green programme started in 2021 and sets out a decarbonisation model anchored in science-based targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative—SBTi. It links a 2050 net zero ambition to dated, measurable reduction commitments across scopes.

Targets run against a 2021 base year for Scope 1 and Scope 2 and a 2022 base year for Scope 3. By 2033 the company is committed to reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions per tonne of cement by 42.1%, Scope 1 emissions by 39.3% and Scope 2 emissions by 86.8%, and to reducing Scope 3 emissions from purchased clinker and cement by 43.4%.

Rather than sequencing measures, the programme works on products, production processes and the value chain in parallel. It is built as a modular set of measures that operates independently of any single plant investment, so each site adopts what its local conditions allow.

Results therefore differ by site. At the Mannok plant in Ireland the alternative fuel rate reached 68% and the thermal substitution rate rose from 42% to 68%. The Buñol plant in Spain combines renewable energy integration with alternative fuel use. Pre-feasibility work on carbon capture, use and storage—CCUS—and hydrogen has started at both sites.

Figure 1: Product carbon intensity to decline 42% by 2033, supporting the company’s net zero 2050 pathway.

Figure 2: Accelerating the energy transition through a steady increase in renewable energy consumption rate, reaching 66% in 2025.

Sustainability impact

Climate

This initiative targets Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. The Scope 3 element falls under Category 1: Purchased goods and services, covering purchased clinker and cement.

Measured against the 2021 base year, cementitious Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity fell by 17% over the period from 2021 to 2025. The switch to renewable electricity saved 219,000 tCO2 over the same period and reduced Scope 2 emissions by 67.4%. Renewable sources accounted for 66% of energy use in 2025 (1).

Between 2024 and 2025, gross Scope 1 emissions fell from 5.53 million tCO2e to 5.41 million tCO2e, a reduction of 2.2%, and net Scope 1 emissions fell from 5.28 million tCO2e to 5.09 million tCO2e, a reduction of 3.6%.

Over the same period, net specific Scope 1 emissions fell from 711 to 685 kg CO2e per tonne, an improvement of 26 kg per tonne or 3.7%. Gross cementitious Scope 1 and 2 specific emissions fell from 747 to 734 kg CO2e per tonne, a reduction of 1.7%.

Accounting follows the GHG Protocol and the Global Cement and Concrete Association—GCCA—Cement CO2 Accounting and Reporting Standard, using operational monitoring data and annual reporting processes.

Business impact

Benefits

Sustainability is increasingly creating business value and strengthening the company’s competitive position. Lower-carbon products have evolved from a compliance requirement into a meaningful growth driver, accounting for 17.6% of total revenue in 2025, while achieving product-level emissions that are 17% lower than the 2021 baseline.

At the same time, operational resilience has been enhanced through higher alternative fuel and thermal substitution rates, reducing dependence on purchased fossil fuels, while increased renewable electricity consumption has lowered exposure to grid-related risks and carbon pricing mechanisms.

To accelerate this transition, the company secured EUR 300 million and USD 70 million in sustainable finance between 2024 and 2025, supporting investments in energy efficiency, low-carbon technologies, and the broader decarbonisation roadmap.

The credibility of these achievements is reinforced through external validation and assurance. The company’s climate targets are validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), its sustainability disclosures are aligned with ISSB (IFRS S1 and S2) requirements, and reported performance data is subject to independent third-party assurance.

Costs

The programme requires capital expenditure on alternative fuel and raw material handling, energy efficiency measures, renewable electricity supply and self-generation, and lower-carbon product development.

On operating costs, higher alternative fuel and thermal substitution rates displace purchased fossil fuels and renewable electricity reduces grid exposure, while alternative fuel handling, product reformulation and emissions monitoring add recurring operating and reporting cost.

Advanced options such as CCUS and hydrogen remain at preparation stage and depend on financing, technology partnerships and the development of regulatory frameworks. Delivery also depends on the local availability of alternative fuels and renewable electricity in each market.

Costs are managed by sequencing the programme: operational improvements in the short term, energy transition in the medium term, and advanced decarbonisation technologies in the long term. The company’s decarbonisation roadmap is supported by EUR 300 million and USD 70 million in sustainability-linked and green financing, enabling investments in energy transition, resource efficiency, and low-carbon production technologies. Investment decisions are taken against long-term targets rather than short-term financial optimisation, which the company treats as an accepted trade-off.

Impact beyond sustainability and business

Co-benefits

Alternative fuels and alternative raw materials return materials to production that would otherwise be discarded.

Supplier sustainability assessment covered 2,703 active suppliers in 2025, and assessment coverage of priority suppliers reached 46%, extending carbon and resource-efficiency expectations along the value chain.

Potential side-effects

Scaling depends on conditions outside the company's control, including the availability of renewable electricity and alternative fuels in each market, and the financing and regulatory frameworks required for CCUS and hydrogen.

The company manages this dependency by keeping the model modular, so that each site adopts the measures its local conditions allow.

Typical business profile

The model is most relevant to hard-to-abate heavy industry, including cement, lime, ceramics and other high-temperature process industries operating across several sites and countries.

It suits companies that already run emissions accounting, hold or intend to set a science-based target, and can access sustainable finance; companies at an earlier stage would need to complete baseline accounting first. Implementation engages production, research and development (R&D), energy procurement, supply chain and risk management functions.

Geographic relevance follows local conditions rather than company size. The measures apply where alternative fuels and renewable electricity are available and permitting allows their use, and the modular design lets multi-country groups run the programme at different speeds in each market, including those exposed to carbon regulation.

Approach

1. Establish the emissions baseline: Set a base year and calculate emissions under the GHG Protocol and the sector accounting standard, covering Scope 1, Scope 2 and purchased clinker and cement under Scope 3.

2. Set and validate the targets externally: Convert the baseline into dated intensity and absolute reduction commitments for each scope, submit them for external validation, then publish the validated figures.

3. Establish governance: Place the programme under Board oversight and assign day-to-day coordination to a senior management committee sponsored by the general manager, so that each measure has a named owner.

4. Raise substitution rates: Increase alternative fuel and alternative raw material use plant by plant, using the thermal substitution rate as the operating indicator and setting a site-level rate target rather than a group average.

5. Reformulate the product portfolio: Reduce the clinker ratio in cement and develop lower-carbon products, tracking their share of revenue alongside their emissions performance so that the commercial case stays visible.

6. Cut and clean the energy input: Contract renewable electricity supply, add self-generation capacity to reduce Scope 2 emissions, and run energy efficiency measures in production to lower the demand being supplied.

7. Extend the programme to the value chain: Run sustainability assessments across the active supplier base, prioritise the suppliers carrying the largest share of purchased clinker and cement, and track assessment coverage as a standing indicator.

8. Fund and stage the long term: Raise green loans and sustainability-linked loans against the published targets to fund the capital programme and run preparatory studies on CCUS and hydrogen at selected sites so that these options can follow once financing and regulation allow.

Stakeholders involved

• Project leads: The Board of Directors sets the direction and oversees the programme, while the Executive Committee and the business units implement it. Corporate coordination sits with the Sustainability Management Committee, sponsored by the general manager, which converts the group targets into site-level commitments and reviews delivery against them. The Executive Vice President for Human Resources and Sustainability is accountable for delivery.

• Company functions: Sustainability, occupational health and safety, environment, production, research and development (R&D), innovation and risk management teams deliver the programme together. Production teams run the fuel and clinker measures at each plant, R&D develops the lower-carbon product portfolio, and sustainability and risk teams consolidate the resulting data into the reported figures.

• Main providers: Energy suppliers, technology providers and equipment suppliers contributed to project design in alternative fuels and raw materials, lower-carbon product development, advanced production technologies and energy supply, working with the company's engineering and research teams to adapt each measure to individual plant configurations.

• Other: Public institutions, local authorities, non-governmental organisations, academia, suppliers, local communities, employees, customers and business partners take part through supplier sustainability assessments, customer engagement channels, operational performance data and quality management processes, which together feed the assessment coverage and product performance data used to steer the programme.

Key parameters to consider

The programme started in 2021 and is embedded in standard operations. Targets run to 2033 against a 2021 base year for Scope 1 and 2 and a 2022 base year for Scope 3, within a 2050 net zero ambition.

Fuel switching, clinker reduction, energy efficiency and renewable electricity are commercially available today, while CCUS and hydrogen remain at preparation stage. Delivery depends on the local availability of alternative fuels and renewable electricity, on permitting conditions in each country, and on access to sustainable finance.

Data is drawn from operational monitoring systems and published through the integrated annual report and sustainability reporting, with independent third-party assurance.

Implementation and operations tips

The principal challenge is that a large share of cement emissions arises from the production process itself, so no single measure is sufficient. Fuel, clinker, energy and product measures therefore run in parallel rather than in sequence.

The second challenge is data. Emissions accounting had to be aligned with the GHG Protocol and the sector standard, tracked through operational monitoring systems and externally assured before the targets could be treated as credible.

Adoption is supported by demand for lower-carbon construction materials, by lenders pricing sustainable finance against validated targets, and by the modular design, which allows each plant to adopt the measures its local conditions permit.

Source list

(1) 2025 integrated annual report