The Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association (THBB) was assigned as the system operator of the Concrete Sustainability Council and the Quality Assurance System (KGS) was assigned as the certification body of the same council.
Contributing a lot to the development of the sector with its quality assurance and environmental and occupational safety procedures, THBB has been focused on sustainability – a model that addresses the environmental balance and economic growth at the same time, pays a great importance to the environmental quality by ensuring the efficient use of natural resources, and meets its current needs without risking the needs of future generations.
International concrete and cement institutions emphasizing how important is for our future to turn concrete a.k.a the world’s most common building material into a sustainable substance gathered together in 2013 to develop a responsible resource utilization certification system. This resulted in the establishment of the Concrete Sustainability Council in 2016. The Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) project was initiated by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and many companies, associations, and institutions became a founding member.
CSC, which informs concrete producers, as well as the institutions that it assign as regional system operators under the categories Management, Environment, Economy, and Social, has only one regional system operator in each region. Based on this, THBB applied to the Concrete Sustainability Council in 2017 and was assigned as a regional system operator after once again proving its competence in the field of concrete and concrete components.
The producers informed by the Concrete Sustainability Council’s regional system operators are subject to audits through the responsible resource utilization certification system, which is a globally recognized product certification system for the concrete sector and concrete components (cement and aggregate). Concrete production plants become certified plants as a result of such audits.The responsible resource utilization system aims at ensuring transparency in the concrete sector through making sustainability initiatives more visible, increasing the awareness level of the public with regard to the concrete sector and concrete use, and considering concrete when it comes to green building rating systems and public environmental policies. Within this context, the Quality Assurance System (KGS) was assigned as the certification body of the Concrete Sustainability Council in 2017 after meeting all the required criteria. As part of this position, KGS will independently audit concrete producers in accordance with the rules designated by the Concrete Sustainability Council and certify those who successfully pass the audits.
The regional system operatorship and certification will become active in our country following the completion of the Concrete Sustainability Council’s system document adaptation, auditor training sessions, and demo audits.
Yavuz Işık, European Ready Mixed Concrete Organization (ERMCO) and THBB Board Chairman, made a statement regarding THBB’s works on sustainability. “The fact that the Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association was assigned as the regional system operator of the Concrete Sustainability Council and the THBB Quality Assurance System was assigned as the certification body of the Concrete Sustainability Council is not only a huge step for our country and ready-mixed concrete industry but also a huge success for our association. The Concrete Sustainability Council’s certification system helps producers increase the quality of their products. Upon the start of the system, THBB will begin to work as a regional system operator and designate the certification requirements and KGS will independently maintain its audits. This certification will help producers increase their company recognition by proving their conformity to the international standards in the field of responsible resource utilization. Thanks to the council membership, THBB and KGS will achieve a leading position in our region, and our ready-mixed concrete sector will make a significant progress.”
