Heidelberg Materials France announce restructure

Company announces plans to close two plants to accelerate modernization and decarbonization

AS part of an ambitious decarbonization strategy, Heidelberg Materials France are planning a restructuring that would result in the closure of their sites in Beffes (Cher) and Villiers-au-Bouin (Indre-et-Loire) as of October 2025.

This restructuring project follows a stronger alignment of the company’s cement portfolio towards low-carbon products which include reduced clinker content, putting a strong focus on investments in the green transformation. At the same time, Heidelberg Materials France are faced with a significant decline in cement sales caused by weak construction demand due to the current market environment.

Socially acceptable solutions for all affected employees are being sought, including the offer of redeployment to other company sites in France.

In 2020, Heidelberg Materials introduced a substantial investment plan of more than €400 million to reduce CO₂ emissions with modernization measures at their Airvault site in Deux-Sèvres, Beaucaire site in Gard, Bussac-Forêt site in Charente-Maritime, and Couvrot site in Marne.

The investment plan aims to improve energy efficiency, replace fossil fuels with alternative fuels, and further reduce the clinker content of cement at these sites. Overall, CO₂ emissions will be reduced by around a third.

The company is also making significant progress towards circularity in France. Leading a large-scale, closed-loop recycling project called CIRCO₂BETON, Heidelberg Materials France are implementing an industrial-scale selective separation platform at their Achères Quarry, where demolished concrete will be crushed and separated into sand, aggregates, and recycled concrete paste (RCP). The high-quality recycled sand and aggregates will be used in new concrete, whilst the RCP will be carbonated using CO₂-containing exhaust gases from the kiln at the Ranville cement plant.

Seeking viable solutions for unavoidable process CO₂ emissions, Heidelberg Materials France are working closely with project partners to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Recently, the company announced its largest modernization project in France at its Airvault site, where it aims to complement conventional CO₂ reduction measures with carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology, allowing a capture capacity of approximately 1 million tonnes annually.

Heidelberg Materials are following an ambitious global climate strategy, having set targets to reduce specific net CO₂ emissions per tonne of cementitious material by 47% by 2030, compared with 1990. The Group aims to generate 50% of its revenue from sustainable products that are either low-carbon or circular by 2030. By 2050 at the latest, Heidelberg Materials plan to be carbon neutral across their entire product portfolio and achieve net-zero emissions.