Cemex partners with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to accelerate circular economy efforts in the built environment
As a Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Network, Cemex will continue integrating and scaling circular economy principles into the cement supply chain through its Regenera business while leveraging science-based research, advocacy, and coalition-building initiatives to drive circularity forward in the building materials industry.
“Since 2023, with the launch of our Regenera business, we have strengthened our focus on circularity as an essential component of our strategy. Through Regenera, we are providing circularity solutions to extend the life cycle of products and reduce the use of virgin materials,” said Fernando A. González, CEO of Cemex. “The Partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation presents a tremendous opportunity to further drive Cemex’s leadership in the transition of the built environment towards a circular economy."
“The built environment sector has a huge role to play in the transition to a circular economy, and Cemex have shown their intent to be a key player by joining our Network. As a leader in the construction industry, we look forward to supporting their circular economy journey through this long-term collaboration and showcasing the potential of innovative circular practices within the building materials industry,” said Joe Murphy, Executive of the Business Network at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The United Nations found that in 2021 the buildings and construction sector emitted historic levels of CO2 emissions, accounting for approximately 37% of global CO2 emissions. Incorporating circular economy principles into the built environment can create more sustainable and liveable urban areas, reduce global CO2 emissions from building materials by 38% by 2050, and enhance sector resilience to supply chain disruptions and raw material price volatility.
A circular economy helps tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and other global challenges by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. The Foundation is working to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, that is based on three principles driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.
Cemex’s Regenera recovered over 9 million tons of construction and demolition waste (CDEW) in 2023, marking a 5% increase over the prior year. As a result, construction-related waste has been effectively utilized and treated as raw materials for aggregates in concrete production, reintegrating them into the construction value chain and reducing the environmental impact of the industry.
Regenera is part of Future in Action, Cemex's program to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050.
About the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is an international charity that develops and promotes the circular economy in order to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. We work with our network of private and public sector decision-makers, as well as academia, to build capacity, explore collaborative opportunities, and design and develop circular economy initiatives and solutions. Increasingly based on renewable energy, a circular economy is driven by design to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature, to create resilience and prosperity for business, the environment, and society.