Cement Industry Requests "Continuous Attention and Support for Carbon Neutrality"

Meeting on Carbon Neutrality with Members of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee

Members of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Venture Business Committee and attendees posing during a tour of Ssangyong C&E Donghae Plant. From the left: Won Yonggyo, Donghae Plant Manager of Ssangyong C&E; Lee Hyunjun, Chairman of the Korea Cement Association (current CEO of Ssangyong C&E); Kim Seonghwan, Member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party; Kim Jeongho, Member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party; Yang Iwonyeong, Member of the National Assembly; Lee Gyeonghun, Director of Steel Ceramics Division, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Lee Changgi, Vice Chairman of the Korea Cement Association.
Photo by Korea Cement Association

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The cement industry announced on the 30th that it held a meeting to discuss carbon neutrality with members of the National Assembly’s Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee.

On the 27th, seven cement companies?Sampyo Cement, Ssangyong C&E, Hanil Cement, Hanil Hyundai Cement, Asia Cement, Sungshin Cement, and Halla Cement?challenging carbon neutrality by 2050, held a meeting at Ssangyong C&E’s Donghae plant with National Assembly members from the Industry, Trade, and Energy Committee to share the implementation status of the cement industry’s carbon neutrality declaration and discuss effective future support measures.

The meeting was attended by Kim Seong-hwan and Kim Jeong-ho from the Democratic Party, independent member Yang Yi-won-young, Lee Hyun-jun (Chairman of the Korea Cement Association and CEO of Ssangyong C&E), Vice Chairman Lee Chang-gi, Lee Kyung-hoon (Head of the Steel and Ceramics Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy), and Won Yong-gyo (Donghae Plant Manager of Ssangyong C&E), among others.

The Cement Association first introduced that in February, it launched the Cement Green New Deal Committee, composed of 15 experts from industry, academia, and government including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and identified 34 unit tasks in three key areas?raw materials, fuel, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)?to derive institutional improvement measures for carbon neutrality.

Lee Chang-gi, Vice Chairman of the Cement Association, stated, "In addition to developing alternative raw materials to limestone (non-carbonate raw materials) as a greenhouse gas reduction technology and expanding the use of blended materials and blended cement to reduce clinker (cement intermediate product) usage, we will swiftly promote R&D for eco-friendly new heat sources such as hydrogen and biomass, and make efforts to accelerate the application of CCUS." He presented the industry’s scenario to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% by 2050 compared to 2018.

Ssangyong C&E announced its key strategies to achieve Korea’s first coal phase-out by 2030 and drastically reduce carbon emissions by 2050 through continuous facility investments to operate the world’s largest waste heat power generation facility at a single cement production plant scale and increase the use of waste synthetic resin.

Lee Hyun-jun, Chairman of the Cement Association, said, "Although all cement companies are gradually reducing greenhouse gas emissions by replacing bituminous coal with waste plastics and other materials for carbon neutrality, there are limits to perfectly controlling greenhouse gas emissions due to the nature of the manufacturing process." He added, "While the cement industry will continue to develop additional reduction measures through active facility investments and R&D, we ask for active industrial policies, financial support, and continuous attention and support from the National Assembly so that the general public can properly understand the positive role of the cement industry."

After the meeting, National Assembly members from the Industry, Trade, and Energy Committee, including Kim Seong-hwan, toured the site where investments are underway to expand the use of recycled resources, including the waste heat power generation facility and waste synthetic resin storage tanks. Kim Seong-hwan said, "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the cement industry will certainly not be easy, but it was a good opportunity to also confirm the possibilities. Let us overcome the current crisis by joining forces between the industry and the National Assembly to achieve the two goals of maintaining industrial and national competitiveness while achieving carbon neutrality."