Biodiversity 

Our target: nature positive

The extraction of raw materials impacts nature in many respects, changing landscapes and natural habitats. Responsible land management is therefore an essential element of the Heidelberg Materials sustainability strategy, and we are committed to working towards the global goal of nature positive.

Nature positive means stopping and reversing biodiversity loss in order to ensure a global net gain for the planet. In simple terms, there should be more nature by 2030 compared with 2020. For this purpose, it is important to protect spontaneously created natural areas within active quarries in addition to integrating biodiversity features into the post-extraction reclamation plans. Companies such as Heidelberg Materials can play their part in halting and reversing biodiversity loss by addressing their own impact on nature and implementing measures that achieve positive results for nature and outweigh their negative contributions.

Biodiversity management at our locations

As a business reliant on the extraction of raw materials, we acknowledge our impact and accompanying social responsibility. Our quarry development activities – sustainable extraction methods, reclamation/restoration, and intensive cooperation with nature conservation groups – take account of nature. For many years, we have been committed to protecting and preserving native animal and plant species.

Numerous scientific studies demonstrate that active quarries can be extremely valuable to nature. They offer a wide variety of habitats, including undisturbed biotopes that are rarely found in today’s developed landscapes, which support many endangered and/or protected species, such as the sand martin, the yellow-bellied toad, the eagle owl, or the Eurasian otter.

Post-extraction reclamation further offers significant opportunities to create critical habitat types that support numerous flora and fauna, and has the potential to increase the ecological value of the site. To build on the positive impact our biodiversity management and reclamation can deliver, we work closely with nature conservation organisations, local authorities, and neighbouring communities to make an important contribution to restoring biodiversity.

A blue lake inside an abandoned quarry, a mine can be seen in the far distance

Cooperation with nature conservation organisations

Partner organizations help us to minimize our impact on the environment and promote biodiversity at our quarries and in their surroundings. Since 2011, we have greatly benefited from a partnership with the largest international nature conservation organization, BirdLife International. As we mark over a decade of mutual efforts, we are pleased to share that this collaboration will continue to grow, with the recent renewal of our Memorandum of Understanding. This renewal not only celebrates a 12-year partnership but also sets the framework for another three years of joint commitment toward environmental stewardship and biodiversity.

Together, we aim to minimize negative environmental impact and promote biodiversity in and around our quarries. BirdLife International and its national partner organizations help us maximize the role our extraction sites can play for biodiversity by imparting knowledge, sharing best practice, and working on the ground with our operational staff to engage and empower them. As a result of this cooperation, which is now poised to expand further, more than 40 biodiversity projects have been initiated worldwide.

While the priority action for Heidelberg Materials is protecting and enhancing biodiversity in our own operations, it is also important to support the education of wider society about the loss of biodiversity and its consequences. In alignment with this goal and our collaborative efforts, we continue to implement innovative ideas and projects derived from our Quarry Life Award, enhancing our contribution to conservation and sustainability.

Therefore, during the reporting year, Heidelberg Materials again supported BirdLife International’s Spring Alive project, which aims to foster an interest in migratory birds among children in Europe and Africa, as well as their families and teachers. In 2022, the focus was on Citizen science for birds, which encouraged participants to get involved in monitoring these species and to learn more about their behavior and habitat needs. Through these actions, we reaffirm our commitment to environmental education and the promotion of biodiversity.

Quarry Life Award

As a unique initiative in the building materials industry, the Quarry Life Award is an integral part of the Heidelberg Materials sustainability strategy. The research and education competition supports our approach to innovative biodiversity management, promotes research, and engages stakeholders around the world.

Researchers, university students, and non-governmental organisations as well as members of our local communities are invited to develop and – provided they qualify to participate in the competition – implement ideas for biodiversity-related projects at our company’s quarries worldwide.

Heidelberg Materials uses the award-winning projects as a basis for developing best practices for quarry management, which are then rolled out globally. In this way, we want to promote the evaluation of the quarries’ ecological value and support the development of new methods that benefit scientists, government authorities, and our company as well as nature.

The fifth edition of the Quarry Life Award was launched in May 2021. Heidelberg Materials opened its quarries and gravel pits from January to September 2022 so that the selected projects could be implemented. At the end of 2022, the winners were awarded at national and international level.

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Water Management

Heidelberg Materials has committed itself to limiting the impact of its activities on the limited natural resource of water to the greatest possible extent. We comply with stringent environmental regulations to ensure that our raw material quarrying does not endanger local bodies of surface water or groundwater resources. Through conservation measures and efficient use, we want to conserve water and minimize negative effects. This can be achieved by using rainwater, utilizing reuse and recycling technologies, or working with local communities on water-related projects.

The conservation of water in our quarries plays a crucial role in the preservation of biodiversity. Shallow water bodies created within active quarries often become the perfect habitats for a wide variety of species, including amphibians, insects, and birds. By carefully managing the water in our quarries, we create thriving ecosystems that contribute to local biodiversity and allow for the development of spontaneous natural environments. These water management efforts are intricately connected to our goal of protecting and promoting nature even in areas of active extraction, thereby supporting the dynamic balance between our operational needs and ecological value.

Our locations in India are water positive

The state of Madhya Pradesh is one of the most severely affected by drought in India. There, as in other regions of the country, we are working intensively to effectively address the scarcity of water.

In accordance with ISO 14046 and the relevant TÜV SÜD protocol, the successful actions of our locations in India for ensuring responsible water use were again confirmed in 2022: in total, about 6.5 times as much water was recovered as is required for our production processes. This corresponds to a water surplus of more than 10 million cbm. With the help of various rainwater collection systems, the Yerraguntla site even managed to provide the local community with around 12 times as much water as it consumed.

With a blue water footprint of 0.25 cbm/t, our Indian subsidiary is again considered water positive. Water positivity is an approach characterised by promoting clean water and reducing water consumption. It is often associated with secure access to clean water as a fundamental human right and raising awareness of water-related issues such as scarcity and pollution.

River with a road and a pipeline running alongside it, a cement plant in the background

The importance of water for our production processes

Water is used, for example, when washing gravel and sand as well as for cooling and cleaning transport vehicles. It is also one of the source materials for concrete manufacturing and becomes part of the building material during its production. We obtain some of the water we use from the public water supply, but the majority comes from our own approved well systems or from rivers and lakes. The use of rainwater in cleaning and production processes is also becoming increasingly important. All direct withdrawals are heavily regulated and closely monitored by governments worldwide. The local operating permit at each plant specifies the allowable amounts of water extraction and recirculation. Some of the water – the water used for cooling, for instance – evaporates and is released into the atmosphere. The cleaning water that accumulates when transport vehicles are washed is fully recycled. We dispose of the domestic wastewater accruing at our company buildings via the municipal wastewater systems.

Lake in the middle of a landscape overgrown with many plants

Sustainable water management

A water reporting system based on the GCCA guidelines has been introduced at all of our company’s cement plants. We work continuously to reduce our water consumption, for example, by switching to closed cooling circuits and recycling systems. We have therefore also started to introduce measurement systems and key figures on water reporting in our aggregates and ready-mixed concrete business lines.

We use an integrated approach when considering environmental risks, which are increasingly related to water due to climate change. While working to reduce our consumption of fresh water worldwide, we take local conditions and challenges into account in the implementation of specific water management measures. The particular conditions in each region in terms of factors such as climate, water resources, population growth, and economic development influence the availability and use of water. We therefore rely on individual approaches tailored to the respective locations in order to reduce water consumption as far as is economically and technically possible. A local approach can also be more participatory and involve key stakeholders such as communities, businesses, and governments in the development and implementation of water reduction initiatives. This can lead to greater ownership and increase the sustainability of water reduction efforts, and it also enables better matching of targets and measures to local conditions.

Because we are facing a water surplus in other regions of the world, where we need to pump off large quantities of water in order to operate our quarries, it does not make sense to define a general global reduction target for the Group based on quantified water withdrawal rates.

Water levels and climate risks: our measures

The importance of water management has increased in the wake of climate change, as we are increasingly realising the impact it is having on water availability and our production processes. Unusually high or low water levels in rivers, for example, present complex logistical challenges if we want to use them as transport routes. During the prolonged drought in Western Europe in 2022, low water levels made it difficult to transport raw materials by ship. At the same time, flooding in large parts of Australia led to interruptions in production and supply. We were only able to maintain production thanks to our advanced water management systems. This emphasises how important water management is for us.

Our climate risk assessments are based on the scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They help us to manage these risks. Our global activities are affected by extreme weather conditions such as droughts and floods. This affects our production facilities, supply chains and the availability of primary products. To strengthen our resilience, we have implemented water-saving technologies and optimised our wastewater management. Looking ahead to 2030 and beyond, we are developing site-specific adaptation measures to mitigate the risks associated with water scarcity and increasing climate events. Our commitment to creating water management plans reflects our active approach to climate adaptation and ensures that we remain flexible and responsive to changing environmental conditions.