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Achieving Competitiveness through Sustainable Development

Holcim, one of the first transformation companies in Croatia where privatization also took place, has published its fifth sustainability report titled ‘Our Path to Low-Carbon Development’.

The report was presented by Alan Šišinački, CEO of Holcim in Croatia, and Holcim’s Director of Industrial Ecology, Žarko Horvat.
Šišinački, after eight years in various positions within the group, including as CEO in Slovakia and Austria, returned to Croatia and noted that, unfortunately, not much has changed. He also reflected on business in Europe, emphasizing that during this period, 100 million euros were invested in equipment in Slovakia to achieve competitiveness and that they manage waste equivalent to the size of the city of Zagreb annually, saving more than 100,000 tons of coal in the process.
– If you do not operate sustainably, you cannot compete or compete. What Holcim does on a global scale is nothing special. Unfortunately, in Croatia, it is – emphasized Šišinački.

Speaking in more detail about the report, which they envisioned as a contribution to the discussion on preparing the Strategy and low-carbon development of Croatia, which should become the standard framework for planning, Horvat highlighted that as of July 1, they have entered a new cycle of promoting sustainable construction and have also entered the agricultural program. Their desire, he continued, is to encourage questioning the functioning of society and the creation of public policies, and for public policies to be acceptable, he believes it is necessary to create prerequisites such as predictability, transparency, accountability, and participation. This is a prerequisite, he emphasized, for the realization and implementation of strategies because otherwise, they remain just another document in a series that has not been implemented.

Horvat also presented projections for the development of carbon dioxide emissions in the global cement industry by 2050, noting that CCS technologies (Carbon capture and storage) are very significant in reducing emissions, but that in the current market conditions, this is unachievable for the cement industry. Nevertheless, it is expected that by 2050, up to 400 state-of-the-art factories will have this technology integrated. Furthermore, he pointed out that Holcim has taken numerous steps towards low-carbon development and that for them, energy efficiency represents almost a business model as they operate better through efficient energy use.

The low-carbon narrative continued at a panel discussion featuring former director of Čistoća Marko Melčić, economist Ante Babić, executive director of the Council for Green Building in Croatia Snježana Turalija, secretary-general of the Energy Association of Zagreb Marin Pasarić, and Ivan Križić from the Student Association for the Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Consulting (Supeus). Throughout the discussion, issues regarding waste and the potential of bio-waste, projects in that segment, the potential of renewable energy sources, green construction, young forces, and the need for change in education were addressed.