In light of World Environment Day, Suez Cement Group of Companies (SCGC), one of the largest grey cement producers in Egypt and a subsidiary of Heidelberg Materials, celebrated its milestones in reducing its CO2 emissions and its environmental impact to be in line with Egypt’s 2030 Vision as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“Suez Cement plays a key role in the creation and building of communities in Egypt, and we need to ensure that these communities have the safest possible environment that can be sustained for generations to come,” said Mohamed Hegazy, SCGC Managing Director.
“Cement will always remain a necessary material for the country’s infrastructure and housing sector, and it is our responsibility to provide this essential commodity with the least harm to our environment. That is why we are investing millions of US dollars to reduce our environmental footprint in different key areas such as alternative energy sources, and the reduction of clinker in our cement,” Hegazy added.
Following its parent company Heidelberg Materials, SCGC is rigorously driving forward the transformation to become one of Egypt’ most sustainable companies in the sector and setting an ambitious CO2 reduction target of reaching 24% in 2030 when compared to the 2019 baseline.
SCGC has invested $60m since 2010 in technology developments to measure and greatly decrease dust emissions throughout the company’s operations. This has resulted in significant emission reduction by the end of 2020 when compared to the company’s 2012 baseline. For instance, a massive 80% reduction in dust emissions was achieved, which, if present, decreases the surrounding air quality and causes health issues for people exposed.
An additional investment of around $16m was also dedicated to the use of non-fossil-based fuels, which is a critical component of achieving lower-carbon emissions in cement. The company has also installed different technologies within its three plants in Helwan, Kattameya and Suez to support the use of alternative fuels in its operations. This makes SCGC the first cement producer in Egypt to not only feed alternative fuel materials into the main burners but also all its running kilns.
Recently, SCGC has also announced that it will be investing USD 25 million to build a system to collect heat generated by its kilns in Helwan Plant and convert it to electrical energy. This “Waste Heat Recovery System” can be a crucial factor in reducing energy use, costs and CO2 emissions at cement plants by utilizing wasted energy that is normally vented into the atmosphere to produce up to 30% of the plant’s electricity needs.
“We are committed to pursuing initiatives to broaden our range of innovative and eco-friendly building solutions, advance operational efficiency through digitalization, and strengthen customer engagement for better business results and more positive impact,” said Omar Khorshid, Suez Cement Group of Companies Technical Director.
“SCGC does not only seek to reduce the environmental impact of its production process but rather its cement products as well. In 2021, the company introduced to the market new products with lower CO2 footprint that have the potential to cut carbon emissions by half,” Khorshid added.
SCGC is committed to its main principle to combine industrial development and economic performance with environmental protection and improvement in quality of life and a better tomorrow.
