Bamburi Cement to Stop Producing Top Variety as it Goes Green
By The COAST Reporter
Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com
Bamburi Cement Plc has announced that it will cease production of ordinary portland cement (OPC) within its product line from January 1, 2024, as part of its commitment to decarbonizing its operations and providing a greener option of building materials.
This landmark commitment comes amid the ongoing 2023 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in United Arab Emirates, and accelerates the company’s sustainability target to 100 percent green products by 2025, thus decreasing carbon (CO2) emissions to fight climate change.
Bamburi Cement Group managing director Mohit Kapoor said it would affect the production of powerplus cement used in medium to large construction projects, but assured customers of alternative greener products for the same.
“Bamburi Cement Plc is steering future construction processes and built environment’s life cycle towards environmental protection. Withdrawing OPC from the construction sector is critical to greening and decarbonising the industry. In combination with the thrust on the use of eco-friendly cement offerings, it gives us the opportunity to onboard our partners and customers in our unstoppable journey to net-zero.”
As an alternative and in mitigation to the OPC, the company has a wide range of eco-labelled cement products which assure better quality and durable construction output with low carbon emissions, according to the company’s head of innovation and technical services Eng Fidelis Sakwa.
“Our flagship eco-labelled product Bamburi Duracem 42.5 cement reduces carbon emissions by 64% in comparison to the OPC. Duracem was successfully used to build the Makupa Bridge in Mombasa resulting in a saving of 10 million kg of CO2 as compared to OPC that would have been used,” he said.
The company’s technical team has invited stakeholders and contractors for consultative opportunities on providing viable options including conducting project specific concrete mix designs with a lower carbon footprint in the near term.
OPC products have been used traditionally for large infrastructure projects and high rise buildings.
Typically, OPC contains 95% clinker, an intermediate material in the manufacture of cement produced by burning limestone and other materials in a kiln where CO2 is invariably released in the process. OPC emits the highest greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during its manufacturing and production.
One ton of clinker emits around 0.83 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere according to Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) regional data, whereas one ton of OPC emits approximately 0.79 tons of CO2, driving the building industry’s 8% (2.8 billion tons) of carbon emissions globally.
The company’s announcement, therefore, reinforces its progress made so far in transitioning to low-carbon cement.
In November last year, Bamburi Cement eco-labeled its four cement brands to represent 30% lower CO2 emissions compared to pure Ordinary Portland Cement.
The four include Bamburi Duracem, Bamburi Fundi, Bamburi Tembo, and Bamburi Nguvu.
Last year, the company reduced its consumption of fossil fuels to power its cement kilns, which generate clinker, by 5.5% by co-processing nearly 75,000 tons of waste.
Further, it has increased the use of alternative raw materials in cement production such as pozzolana, limestone, slag, and gypsum to reduce the clinker factor.
