The long work that UNACEM, the leader in cement operations in Peru, has been carrying out to reduce its carbon footprint has a breaking point in 2021 when corporate CEO Pedro Lerner declared that the group must achieve carbon neutrality in the year 2050. The first objective by 2030 was to reduce its emissions in cement production to 500 kilos per ton in all cement production units.
What changes is UNACEM making to reduce its carbon footprint?
There is a great challenge for the organization. With the reduction of the clinker factor, for example, the business model is transformed by searching for new raw materials. Including other fuels in our energy matrix makes furnace operation more challenging. We invest in training our operators so that they adapt to the new fuels. There is no way to manufacture cement without emitting CO2. In that sense, nature-based solutions involve learning a new way of managing the company, of going beyond our barriers, our territorial limits to look for ecosystems that we can care for, transform and capitalize on that CO2 that is going to be captured.
They have already received the Fourth Star of the Peru Carbon Footprint Program.
There is a lot of work behind this achievement, which is a four-step program. In the first star we commit to measuring our footprint. With the second, the commitment was to validate it, certify it. With the third we gradually reduced our footprint. The fourth, called Reduction+, commits us even more to this task. It is a step forward, but we still have several more to go until we reach 2050. We have the Fourth Star as a cement unit, but also for the concrete and electrical energy unit. That all these business units have four stars is the most tangible way to confirm the group’s commitment.
Why is the growth of added cements key?
When we talk about reducing the clinker factor we can see it in two ways, introducing new products with a lower clinker factor without reducing their resistance or quality characteristics or reducing this factor little by little with the current brands. We choose to maintain the Sol and Andino brands, which have a long-standing prestige in Peru, as they are and we are betting on new products such as Andino Ultra, Andino Forte and Apu, with certain different characteristics. Apu is one of the brands with the greatest growth potential that we have. Last year, more than 30% of our sales were already being consolidated in Apu, a very good, low-emission product.
Reducing the clinker factor without compromising quality is a challenge. How are they achieving it?
Taking limestone, the raw material for clinker, from the quarries to the kiln produces 60% of our CO2 emissions. This is an essential element to produce cement. However, part of the strategy is to reduce the amount of clinker in each bag of cement we have. We are adding clays and other materials to reduce the clinker content and therefore our total emission.
The Amancay sanctuary has become an example of conservation. What does it mean for UNACEM?
It’s like the jewel in the crown. We have been investing for more than 30 years in the conservation of the hills, a unique ecosystem from central to southern Peru and part of northern Chile. Around our operation in Atocongo we have a set of important hills and we made the decision to first conserve 70 hectares where the highest density of the Amancay flower is found, which is a vulnerable species. In 2021 they became almost 800 hectares, we multiplied them by more than 10. Now it is a private conservation area that, in addition to preserving the flower, has preserved the archaeological heritage for several decades in alliance with the Catholic University.
Sports are also done in the sanctuary.
We have planned to host the Pan American Games in Lima in 2027. The hill is the best example of the coexistence between cement production, the exploitation of limestone quarries and the conservation of a fragile ecosystem. In addition, it can be a driver of tourism and local development. In 2009 we created a board to take care of another natural area, the Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve. We generate productive, industrial development models, with conservation and development models. Sometimes we do not understand that this interaction is extremely powerful and that it strengthens us in a reputational, environmental, and social way.
How do you balance cement’s role as an engine of progress with more responsible production?
I think they are two sides of the same coin. The nature of cement and concrete is to contribute to development and improve the quality of life. Our product ends up in homes, schools, hospitals, and in water and salt pipes. There is no way to separate a product as noble as cement from the development of the country. But that view has to evolve, because times and needs change. Now, our value chain is strengthened with sustainability. We are going to produce cement as we have done for more than 100 years, but we are going to give it the additional value of reducing our emissions to contribute to the global fight against the effects of climate change.
A commitment to zero emissions. UNACEM moves towards decarbonization in the industry
The cement company has drawn up an ambitious roadmap combining technological innovation, the use of renewable energy and nature-based solutions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
For UNACEM, a leading Peruvian company in comprehensive construction solutions, through its cement brands Sol, Andino and Apu, and its concrete brand UNICON, sustainability is a fundamental pillar of its business strategy. Given the cement industry’s global goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and in line with the UNACEM Group roadmap, the company seeks to transform its operations towards a cleaner, more efficient and circular model.
To this end, it has established measurable objectives, with a first short-term horizon: reducing its net emissions to 500 kilos of CO2 per ton of cement by 2030.
Five axes
UNACEM’s strategy is articulated around key pillars that seek to attack the most important emission sources:
– Reduction of the clinker factor: Clinker, the main CO2 emitter and basic input of cement, is being partially replaced by alternative cementitious materials. Thanks to this effort, 35% of sales now correspond to added cements, and the clinker factor has been reduced by 9% since 2010.
– Transition to alternative fuels: The company is replacing fossil fuels with cleaner options such as biomass (forest waste) and reused oils. This energy transition aims to ensure that, by 2030, at least 20% of thermal energy comes from these alternative sources.
– Efficiency and clean energy: UNACEM is optimizing its operating processes with the use of natural gas—68% of the caloric consumption of the kilns for clinker production comes from this source—and ensuring that a notable 90% of the electrical energy consumed comes from renewable sources. In addition, it uses 59% of the total waste generated.
– Carbon capture and compensation: The strategy includes both the application of technology for carbon capture and nature-based solutions such as what was done in the Amancay Sanctuary, the first conservation area of Metropolitan Lima, managed by UNACEM.
– Technological Innovation: Investment in the development of new ideas and processes, such as real-time digital monitoring and predictive technology to maximize energy efficiency.
environmental leadership
UNACEM’s efforts are already bearing fruit. Recently, the company was recognized with the Fourth Star of the Peru Carbon Footprint Program of the Ministry of the Environment, the highest level of this recognition, for maintaining a sustained reduction of emissions in its two plants located in Lima and Tarma. A milestone that makes it a benchmark in the sector.
As a complement to industrial innovation, UNACEM has integrated conservation as a central piece of its strategy towards carbon neutrality. The Amancay Sanctuary, which is located between Lurín and Pachacámac, plays a crucial role in offsetting emissions.
In its more than 780 hectares, the Sanctuary protects the ecosystems of coastal hills, promotes scientific research, and protects nearly 180 species of flora and fauna, including the emblematic Amancay flower. This space not only serves as a natural laboratory for the study of vulnerable ecosystems, but also embodies UNACEM’s commitment to nature-based solutions, proving that industrial ambition and environmental conservation can advance hand in hand in Peru.
“We not only want to be part of the most emblematic works in the country, we want to be an innovative industry with an environmental focus and lead the best practices,” underlines the company, thus reaffirming that the path towards carbon neutrality is an essential part of its development vision and in its commitment to closing the infrastructure gaps that the country needs to continue growing.
