MANILA, Philippines — Holcim Philippines, Inc. further expanded the company’s portfolio of sustainable and innovative building solutions to better support the country’s development.

As part of its efforts to decarbonize the local construction, the leading building solutions provider has launched a better alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) that ensures concrete strength and durability while lowering impact on the climate.

The company has developed Holcim Optimo as more Filipino builders shift towards sustainable construction and demand greener alternatives.

Holcim Philippines’ latest product is blended with limestone additives to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 10% while delivering similar concrete performance as OPC.

Holcim Optimo is designed as a seamless substitute to OPC, the conventional material used for massive infrastructures and building projects but has a significant environmental footprint.

Holcim Optimo delivers the same strength, workability and durability as OPC and remains compatible with other cement additives such as slag and fly ash.

The new product is best used in large building projects and available in bulk.

Holcim Philippines President and CEO Horia Adrian said, “Holcim Optimo is part of our commitment to expand our line of innovative and sustainable products for building essential structures for progress without compromising the environment. It is a timely product for the Philippines as infrastructure building accelerates and green demand grows. We are excited to work with our partners in making this the cement of choice in building important structures for Philippine development.”

Holcim Optimo further strengthens the company’s portfolio of blended cement products that reduce its environmental footprint while delivering equal to superior building performance.

Since 2018, Holcim Philippines has cut its carbon footprint by more than 20% by producing more blended cements, replacing coal with qualified wastes as alternative fuels and raw materials, and improving efficiency of operations.

The company has accelerated innovations to produce a wider variety of high-performance blended cement for specific applications such as Solido for roads, Aqua-X for water protection, and WallRight Prime for masonry.

Holcim Philippines also relaunched in April its flagship general purpose cement into Excel ECOPlanet following successful efforts to slash the carbon footprint of the product by at least 30% compared with OPC.

The company’s carbon footprint reduction program is aligned with the Holcim Group’s net zero direction and the country’s Nationally  Determined Contributions.

Aside from its own initiatives, Holcim Philippines is working with key stakeholders to encourage the consumption of low-carbon products to reduce the footprint of the built environment.

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About Holcim Philippines

Holcim Philippines, Inc. (Philippine Stock Exchange: HLCM) is one of the leading building solution companies in the country. The Company has a deep portfolio of innovative solutions fostered by a full range of products from structuring to finishing applications that can help local builders execute with high performance and efficiency a wide range of projects from massive infrastructure to simple home repairs.

With cement manufacturing facilities in La Union, Bulacan, Batangas, Misamis Oriental and Davao, as well as aggregates and dry mix business and technical support facilities for building solutions, Holcim Philippines is a reliable partner of builders in the country.

Holcim Philippines is also committed to the highest standards of sustainable operations and manufacturing excellence with its plants certified under ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management System), ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System) and OHSAS 45001:2018 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System).

Holcim Philippines is a member of the Holcim Group, the world leader in the building materials industry.

About Holcim

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. Driven by its purpose to build progress for people and the planet, its 60,000 employees are on a mission to decarbonize building, while improving living standards for all. The company empowers its customers across all regions to build better with less, with its broad range of low-carbon and circular solutions, from ECOPact to ECOPlanet. With its innovative systems, from Elevate’s roofing to PRB’s insulation, Holcim makes buildings more sustainable in use, driving energy efficiency and green retrofitting. With sustainability at the core of its strategy, Holcim is becoming a net-zero company with 1.5°C targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).