circular economy

As a world leader in recycling, we apply the principles of “reduce, recycle and regenerate” across our business. Circularity is at the core of everything we do and is a lever for our net-zero journey.

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Clone of Circular economy

What is the circular economy?

It means shifting gears from a linear “take-make-waste” approach to a circular “reduce-recycle-regenerate” economy.

A global circular economy decouples growth from the use of primary raw materials – making human activity compatible with the safe limits of the planet.

Why is it so important to transition to a circular economy?

The world economy has grown to unprecedented levels, and we are currently set to consume 2.3 planets by 2040.¹

If we can embrace circularity in all walks of life, we can fulfil people’s needs while reducing the materials we extract and use.

¹Source: World Business Council for Sustainable Development report, 26 September 2022.

What role does the construction industry have in a circular economy?

The world is building the equivalent of Madrid every week as the global population grows and urbanizes, while there is a desire for better living standards.. Over 40 billion tons of primary materials are extracted every year to build our homes, schools, hospitals, roads and other vital infrastructure. Making construction more circular is essential to stay within our planet's boundaries while we improve living standards for all.

There are also circular opportunities when buildings reach the end of their life, as construction demolition materials (CDM) represent a significant resource stream. In Europe alone CDM represents a third of the total waste volumes. With circularity as a driver of profitable growth, we currently operate more than 150 recycling centers globally.

By driving circular construction, we unlock economic growth in a way that is climate-friendly, nature-positive and socially-inclusive.

OUR CIRCULAR ECONOMY TARGETS

By 2030, we will:

Recycle 20 million tons of construction demolition materials per annum

Increase recycled content in our cement to 30%

Recycle 70 million tons of waste and byproducts for alternative energy and raw materials

our circular initiatives

GO CIRCULAR

With GO CIRCULAR, we are sailing the world with our call to action to accelerate circular building and living from sea to city. In 2024, Team Holcim-PRB finished in sixth place at the Vendée Globe. During the voyage, the OceanPack onboard our IMOCA sailing boat collected up to 25,000 water samples daily, enabling scientists to better understand the health of our oceans.

CIRCULAR CITIES HUB

70% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. Cities, therefore, play a vital role in helping us shift from a linear take-make-waste economy to a circular reduce-recycle-regenerate one. We developed the Circular Cities Hub in partnership with Bloomberg – to raise global awareness and fast track the shift to circular living and building.

CIRCULAR EXPLORER

The Circular Explorer, a first-of-its-kind 100% solar-powered catamaran, is fully operational in Manila Bay. It is designed to preserve vital marine ecosystems in a sustainable way through plastic waste recovery, and education and science programs.

Partnering to accelerate change

Cities are ecosystems where all value chain actors have a role to play in enabling the transition to a circular economy. Given the complexity of this transformation, no single organization can get there alone. Deep collaboration between all actors in the construction value chain is critical.

We want to bridge the gap between what Holcim’s circular solutions and innovations can enable and what our markets are asking for. To do this, we are engaging with the most influential partners across our value chain to shift the paradigm together:

Government authorities: to support enabling policies, such as evolving building norms and specifying more circular and low-carbon solutions in their projects, from infrastructure to buildings
Investors: to redirect capital flows and investments towards circular construction
Real estate and infrastructure developers: to specify circular and low-carbon solutions in their procurement and building standards
Architects, engineers and designers: to specify circular and low-carbon solutions in their design, in line with today’s sustainability certifications, from LEED to BREEAM
Companies: to innovate to develop new technologies, from recycling to digital material management and building their real estate parks with circular and sustainable materials and systems
Citizens: to make circular lifestyle choices every day, from demanding greener and more circular homes to using recycling infrastructure systems

CONTRIBUTING TO UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

We work to have a positive impact on all 17 UN SDGs. Under our circular economy pillar we have identified five goals where we can make a significant difference:

How we are making it happen

The Ellinikon sets new standards in sustainable urban regeneration

The Ellinikon, Greece’s “modern, green city,” is being built with Holcim’s end-to-end low-carbon solutions like ECOPlanet cement, ECOPact and DYNAMax concretes, and more.

DISCOVER MORE

Circular construction in action at our flagship Swiss recycling center

Recovering CDM to build new from old is essential to create a circular economy that preserves primary resources and accelerates the shift towards a net-zero built environment.