Environmental footprint

 

Lafarge is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its businesses by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy, optimizing management of resources, etc. The objective is to produce more and better while using less.

Challenge #1: reducing our product’s environmental footprint

 

The cement industry generates around 5% of the world's CO2 emissions. In relation to its Cement business, Lafarge is committed to reducing its environmental impact using 3 levers:

  • improving the performance of its kilns,
  • replacing some of the clinker with industrial residues (fly ash and slag) to save energy,
  • a program to replace fuels with alternative fuels (industrial, household or plant waste).

 
Replacing some of the water used in the composition of concretewith granular stacking produces a more compact, resistant, longer lasting concrete which uses less water.

Grading makes it possible to recover almost all materials extracted from quarries. In order to preserve natural resources, the Group favors:

  • the production aggregates by recycling demolition concrete by crushing it,
  • recycling of concretes not used by the plant.

 
Although it is recyclable, plasterboard also needs to address the issue of saving raw materials. The Group is focusing on 2 areas:

  • Adding additives increases the fluidity of the gypsum and reduces the amount of water used. Less water used to produce plasterboard means less energy wasted during drying. Lafarge is working on a real technological breakthrough: removing the use of water in the manufacture of plasterboard.
  • Plasterboard is manufactured from recycled paper or gypsum, materials which can be infinitely recycled.

 

Lafarge glossary

Fly ash, slag, clinker, industrial ecology, CO2, granular stacking, additives, etc. See the glossary for all technical terms.    

Glossary

For energy efficiency

 

Alain Vassal, sustainable construction director, Bouygues Construction:

"The major challenge of sustainable construction is not only the energy efficiency of buildings, it is also the reduction of emissions during the manufacturing of concrete. Bouygues Construction and Lafarge are working on a joint project to develop low-carbon concretes."    

 

Optimized formulation for concretes

Nicolas Roussel, researcher at thePonts et Chaussées central laboratory (LCPC): 
"Scientific modeling is clearing the way for the sustainable and optimized formulation of future concretes. These must be even more effective while also reducing energy costs. Lafarge and LCPCare pooling their expertise and equipment to achieve this."    

Lafarge and LCPC

Our solutions to this challenge