Circular economy
Holcim is already a world leader in recycling with more than 54 million tons of materials recycled across our business in 2021. Our goal is to recycle 100 million tons by 2030.
As a symbol of our commitment to the circular economy, we recently launched the Circular Explorer – a 100% solar-powered catamaran dedicated to recovering and recycling plastic waste from rivers and bays to preserve our oceans.
The circular economy starts by avoiding waste. It benefits business, society and the environment by eliminating waste and decoupling business growth from the consumption of the world’s finite resources.
Holcim is a world leader in recycling, driving the circular economy across everything we do, from our plants and products to the built environment. We follow the circular economy's three principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to build more with less and preserve our ecosystems.
By driving the circular economy across everything we do, we can preserve nature’s precious resources. Imagine if every new building was made from 50% of an old one. That means 50% less materials drawn from nature.
Working from design to construction, we build for no waste, using only the materials that are needed and nothing more. With smart technologies like 3D concrete printing, we use minimum materials for maximum strength to lower a building’s environmental footprint by up to 60%. We envision entire cities built from modular elements that can be reused again and again.
Our roadmap
We have an ambitious target with a detailed roadmap by market geographies to decouple our growth from nature's resources.
By 2030, Holcim will:
- Increase recycled content in our cement to 30% from 24% today,
- Enhance the circularity of our product portfolio, doubling our recycling ratio,
- Recycle 100m tons of waste and byproducts for energy and raw material,
- Substitute 37% of the fuel we use by generating energy from non-recyclable waste,
- Double recycling of Construction and Demolition Waste into high-value products.
Circular economy case studies
