The World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Geneva-based Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), along with partners from the Americas, Europe and Asia, has launched a responsibility sourcing certification system for concrete. The Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC), a CSI counterpart chartered in November 2016, is crafting the system to concrete, cement and aggregate companies obtain insight in the level to which a company operates in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible way. CSC certification covers raw material sourcing or provenance, production plus a range of economic, social and environmental impacts.
The CSC certification system consists of an operational manual and assessment criteria with application guidance, detailed at concretesustainabilitycouncil.com. A typical certification process includes a number of easy steps, is applicable to all sizes of concrete, cement and aggregate companies, and comprises Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. By creating a certification system for responsibly sourced concrete, the CSC aims to improve transparency of the concrete sector, and highlight the essential role of concrete in creating a sustainable construction sector by getting recognition in ‘green’ procurement government policies and building rating systems.
In addition to CSI members with major North American presence—Cemex, CRH, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim and Titan—founding CSC members include American Concrete Institute, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Portland Cement Association. CSC charter officers are Chairman Dr. Alexander Röder (Cemex) and Vice-Chair Dr. Christian Artelt (HeidelbergCement). — www.concretesustainabilitycouncil.org