Together with 23 organisations - representing industry associations, think tanks, and civil society - EPICO has co-signed a letter calling for an ambitious revision of the harmonised European standards for cement (EN 197 series) as part of the CPR Acquis.
With the European cement industry producing 175 million tonnes of cement annually - responsible for about 4% of EU CO2 emissions - there's an urgent need for stronger action. One major issue is the clinker used in cement, which releases significant CO2 during production. The industry's target to reduce the clinker-to-cement ratio to 60% by 2050 is encouraging, but we believe innovation and technological neutrality can raise our ambition.
The updated standards must:
- Fully explore new technologies like curing cement with captured CO2
- Become more technology-neutral
- Avoid over-reliance on materials like fly ash and steel slag, which won’t be available in a net-zero Europe.
To truly decarbonise the cement industry and meet our climate targets, we need to embrace the sustainable innovations already happening on the ground.