Lhoist nominated for German Sustainability Award
Lhoist has been nominated as one of 100 pioneering companies for the German Sustainability Award 2024. Only recently, the company had announced its intention to deliver the first ton of virtually CO2-free lime at Europe’s largest lime plant in around 10 years.
Thomas Perterer, Managing Director of Lhoist Germany, was honored: “Our nomination for the German Sustainability Award is a great recognition of our achievements and ambitions. Responsible use of resources and a strong focus on energy efficiency have always characterized our corporate DNA. Now we are tackling the major challenge of producing lime virtually CO2-free in the future.”
In cooperation with the DIHK (German Chamber of Industry and Commerce), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and other partners, the German Sustainability Award this year honors companies from 100 industries for the first time. Expert juries voted on the pioneers of sustainability in German business. As a mineral processing company, Lhoist is one of the nominees in the basic materials category.
In view of the industry’s transformation to climate neutrality, the lime industry is faced with a seemingly insoluble task. This is because unavoidable CO2 is released from the limestone during the production of the basic material quicklime – so-called process CO2. In order to be able to produce with low CO2 emissions, the industry, like the cement sector, is therefore dependent on new innovative technologies. In the future, the process CO2 is to be captured from the waste gases and then injected into suitable geological storage facilities.
For such a project for CO2 capture at Europe’s largest plant in Wülfrath, Lhoist, together with the industrial gases company Air Liquide, has applied to the European Union for funding, supported among others by Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. In mid-July, the European Union announced the preselection of the “Everest” project for funding. 239 companies had applied, 41 were selected, including two from Germany - Lhoist and Heidelberg Materials. The EU’s funding pot for all selected projects totals € 3.6 billion this year.
