Environment Support

Cemex

Cemex SAB de CV, commonly known as Cemex, is the world’s biggest building materials manufacturer and one of the largest cement producers. The company is based in Monterrey, Mexico and has facilities in 50 countries including the Carribbean, Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia.

Cemex USA was founded in California when Cementos Hidalgo commenced operations in 1906. In 1931 Cementos Hidalgo merged with Cementos Portland Monterrey and the newly formed company began operating under the label Cementos Mexicanos. The label was later shortened to Cemex. The company expanded significantly in the 1960s when it purchased several plants in Mexico. In 1976, the corporate entity went public and became the biggest cement manufacturer in the country. Six years after, Cemex made substantial progress overseas, enabling it to double its exports. Between 1987 and ’89, it further bought more Mexican companies, making it one of the top ten cement manufacturers in the planet.

Cemex bought a majority stake in a Colombian company in 1996; the purchase made it the third largest cement manufacturer in the world. In 2005, Cemex completed its purchase of RMC Group, which made it the leader in ready-mix concrete production. This also substantially improved its foothold in the European markets. In 2006, Cemex reported 24% higher profit and over 100 years of business.

In September 2007, Cemex announced its plans of building in Seligman, Arizona, a $400 million facility that would serve areas in the state. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2012.

Key Personnel

In 2002, Cemex won the World Environment Center's (WEC) Gold Medal for International Corporate Environmental Achievement. The medal is awarded to companies whose corporate excellence and drives go beyond environmental performance. Cemex’s strategy, which fuses the conservation of the environment with safeguarding the health and safety of its workers, meshes perfectly with what the jury of the WEC were looking for.

Cemex’s Environment efforts were recognized for the following:

Cemex’s environment policy - In 1993, CEO Lorenzo Zembrano promulgated a formal environmental policy that has been implemented throughout the company and its operations around the globe ever since. In 1997, the policy was redesigned to further encompass safety and health. Currently, the company’s policy requires that:

Implementation - The core of Cemex’s environmental drive is CEMEX's Ecoefficiency Program (CEP), which was launched in 1994. The program has resulted in huge energy savings for the company; reduction in CO2 emissions; and has led to the use of alternative energy sources and materials and the reuse and recycling of materials.

Alternative raw materials that the company uses include fly ash, blast furnace slag, pozzolana (a volcanic substance) and byproducts from power stations and steel manufacturing processes.

Cemex has also implemented land reclamation projects. These are:

The El Carmen Reserve Land Reclamation Project - Cemex launched the project after conducting mining operations in the area. This project transpired in Coahuila, Mexico. The project altered the land into a reserve for flora and fauna that are indigenous to the region.

The Cemex reclamation project for the surrounding wetlands around the Fairborn, Ohio Cement Plant - The project reclaimed 200 acres of land that were mined for limestone. The comprehensive restoration project involved landscaping, restoration of a wetland, the safeguarding of species and the demolition of an edifice that stood in the sector.

As of this time, the Cemex produces cement, construction aggregates, and ready-mix concrete. As of 2007, the company had 67,000 personnel under its employ. The Cemex 2007 Sustainable Development Interim Report is available at the Cemex website.

Cemex Environment Resources

Cemex recognized for Environmental Excellence in an article published in Find Articles.

In California, Cemex wins in Endangered Species Case as published by the California Newsletter.

Information about Cemex California from Manta.

Cemex awarded for environment quality in "Cemex Building Awards Finalists Honored for Design, Sustainability Efforts"

CEMEX's Construmex Celebrates Five Years of Service to the Mexican Community in the U.S. in which Cemex provides quality products.

Cemex featured for Environmental Park District

View the Cemex website for information about Cemex USA.

Cemex awarded for Environment efforts by the EPA and DOE for energy efficiency in Houston

View a site discussing industrial air quality, particulate matter and the concrete industry.