Working Collaboratively with Industry Sectors
EPA's Smart Sectors program pursues opportunities to collaborate with industry trade associations, individual companies, and other interested parties to improve environmental outcomes. Below are some examples of the program's work.
Supporting Cement Industry Decarbonization Efforts
In October 2021, the Portland Cement Association issued its Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, pledging to achieve carbon neutrality in the cement industry by 2050 through a lifecycle approach that involves multiple actions across the full cement value chain, from the manufacture of clinker, cement, and concrete, to the end-of-life management of these products.
The Smart Sectors program is working with the cement industry to help achieve its decarbonization goals at key points in the value chain, including through:
- Material Substitution: Increasing the use of recycled and alternative materials in lieu of raw materials and as supplementary cementitious material.
- Use of Alternative Fuels: Increasing the use of biogenic fuels (such as agriculture wastes) in lieu of fossil fuels.
- Advance Technologies: Introducing carbon capture technology as a longer-term mitigation option for the industry.
Highlights of the Smart Sectors program’s engagement with the cement industry to date include:
- A facilitated dialogue with EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management that has helped pave the way for increased use of biogenic fuels (such as agricultural wastes) in lieu of fossil fuels by the cement industry.
- The preparation of a research report analyzing the technical, regulatory, economic, logistical, environmental, and other considerations associated with the beneficial use of coal ash harvested from surface impoundments and landfills for use by the cement and concrete industries.
- A facilitated meeting with EPA’s new source review program to address the cement industry’s questions about air permitting requirements applicable to industrial carbon capture systems.
- An educational site visit for EPA staff from multiple offices to the Lehigh Cement Plant in Union Bridge, Maryland, to obtain first-hand information about facility operations and discuss strategies for industrial decarbonization within the industry.
Read more about the Smart Sectors Program’s work with the cement sector and concrete sector.