CEMEX USA announced today that nine of its ready-mix concrete plants in the San Francisco Bay Area earned the prestigious and internationally-recognized ISO 14001:2015 Certification for their environmental management systems (EMS), making the plants the first CEMEX ready-mix operations in the United States to achieve the designation.
The nine plants, located in Berkeley, Concord, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose, Union City and Santa Clara, Calif., each received certification after Lloyd’s Register, an accredited third-party organization, audited CEMEX USA’s West Region management system at corporate and site level, verifying it conforms to the ISO 14001:2015 standard. In addition to the plants, CEMEX USA’s Livermore office also earned the certification.
To earn ISO 14001:2015 Certification, the EMS at each location had to comply with all the elements required in the standard. The EMS has CEMEX Environmental Policy at its core and serves as example for environmental stewardship, following a continuous improvement cycle that includes planning, operational controls, performance evaluation and management review.
“Sustainability is a core value at CEMEX, and we constantly strive for environmental excellence,” says CEMEX USA President Ignacio Madridejos. “Effective environmental management systems are critical in helping our operations meet and exceed our environmental and sustainability goals. By following well-established standards of ISO 14001:2015, our operations can continue to build on their successes while serving as inspiring examples for others to follow across the U.S.”
The International Organization of Standardization (ISO) developed ISO 14001:2015 as a standard of processes for organizations to use when setting up, improving or maintaining their EMS to follow established environmental policies and requirements. The guidelines are designed to help organizations improve efficiency, reduce waste, improve overall environmental impact and manage environmental obligations.
“We aim to be good neighbors in the communities where we live and operate, looking for ways we can improve in an effort to perform better than environmental standards,” says CEMEX USA Regional President—West Region Eric Wittmann. “Our teams in the Bay Area are leaders in our industry, illustrating an unwavering commitment to performing better and operating responsibly, so we can build a better future with the environment in mind.”
The ISO 14001:2015 certification is just the latest environmental honor for CEMEX’s Bay Area ready-mix plants. In 2018, five of the newly ISO 14001:2015 certified plants earned responsible sourcing certification from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC), becoming the first facilities of any company in the U.S. to achieve the designation.
Earlier this year, CEMEX’s Clinchfield, Ga., cement plant became the first CEMEX operation in the U.S. to achieve ISO 14001:2015 Certification. The company is currently in the process of achieving the certification at several other of its operations in cement, ready-mix and aggregates across the U.S.
