Lafarge takes 'green' cement nationwide

Lafarge has announced plans to establish its 'sustainable' Phoenix cement as a nationwide brand, as it added three additional production sites across the country.

Phoenix Portland Fly Ash cement, which Lafarge claims has a lower embodied CO₂ value than other Portland cements, has been available for several years for three plants at Westbury, Northfleet and Hope.

But the company said that the additional three sites at Theale, Seaham and Abertham mean that it will be available to customers across the UK for the first time in December 2008.

Lafarge Cement UK head of marketing Javed Sethi commented: "We have long championed the case for more sustainable building materials – and want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to select products which meet their own environmental targets.

"Lafarge has witnessed a year-on-year increase in demand for more sustainable products like Phoenix and we are dedicated to meeting this."

The company said that Phoenix retails at around 90% of the cost of standard Portland cement, so that on many projects it would also be cheaper to use, although its lower clinker content means that it is also not as strong as standard Portland, so larger quantities could be required on some projects.