Sustainable!
Everyone is talking about sustainability. Today company and development concepts based on sustainability approaches are presented all over the world more than ever before. However, the term, meaningful and important as it may be, has been strongly overworked for years. But what means sustainability? One possible definition would be: “A process is sustainable if decisions of today do not put future generations at a disadvantage or affect them negatively in any way”. It sounds reasonable. The 3-column model of sustainability combines ecological, economic and social sustainability. At present, worldwide, everyone is looking ahead to the future. Alternative raw material and fuels are being investigated, the search is continuing for new binders and production is becoming more and more efficient. I was able to verify this during well-attended building material conferences covering interesting topics in Turkey, India and Jordan. For example, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) published information on a “Low Carbon Technology Roadmap for the Indian Cement Industry” (www.wbcsdcement.org) at the “12th NCB International Seminar on Cement and Building Materials”. So everywhere the effort is being made to achieve cleaner, more efficient and more environmentally sound production. ZKG would also like to make a contribution to this effort with the current key topics featured in this issue. The year 2011 is drawing to a close, but for sure, these and other topics will also join us in some of the 12 issues (plus special issues) in 2012.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
