Holcim has commissioned the first calcined clay production line in the Czech Republic, at its Čížkovice plant, to scale up low-carbon cement supply.
The facility will enable the building materials group to supply 580,000 tonnes of its ECOPlanet low-carbon cement to customers every year, according to Holcim.
The line has an annual capacity of more than 115,000 tonnes of calcined clay, sourced from a local quarry. Holcim’s patented technology allows the material to partially replace clinker in the kiln, cutting the cement’s carbon footprint by around 30% without affecting performance, the company said.
The project – Holcim Czech Republic’s largest investment to date – cost approximately CZK 1 billion (£35.3m). Of that, CZK 330 million (£11.6m) was funded through the country’s Modernisation Fund, administered by the Ministry of the Environment.
Andrej Babiš, prime minister of the Czech Republic, said: “This project is proof that Czech industry can be modern, competitive and environmentally responsible at the same time. This is exactly the kind of investment our country needs. It combines technological innovation, the use of domestic resources and investments in the future.”
Xavier Guesnu, Holcim’s region head for Central and East Europe, said: “The commissioning of this new calcined clay line is an important step for Holcim to scale up next generation ECOPlanet low-carbon cement as an innovative solution to meet our customers’ most ambitious goals, as the leading partner for sustainable construction.”
The Čížkovice line follows Holcim’s 2023 opening of its Saint-Pierre-la-Cour plant in France – Europe’s first dedicated calcined clay line – and the commissioning of a line in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 2025. The Czech investment forms part of the company’s wider NextGen Growth 2030 strategy to expand its low-carbon cement offering.
Image credit: namtipStudio/Shutterstock
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