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The origins of Holcim Ltd go back to Holderbank, a small village in Switzerland, which gave the company its name in 1912. Within little more than a decade after its inception, the company had expanded into Europe, the Middle East, Northern and South Africa. Expansion then followed in North and Latin America, Asia Pacific, Central, and Eastern Europe.
The company changed its name to Holcim Ltd in 2001 and is today one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregates (crushed stone, sand and gravel) as well as further activities such as ready-mixed concrete and asphalt including services. Its production and sales of cement, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete remain a local and regional based business, aiming to balance the use of local resources with locally determined economic, social, and environmental responsibilities. The Group holds majority and minority interests in more than 70 countries on all continents and employs some 90,000 people.
From the beginning, Holcim Ltd adopted a global perspective by aiming to build a business with a sustainable future. Its environmental principles, for instance, commit Holcim Ltd to the promotion of eco-efficiency, the conservation of non-renewable natural resources, and the recycling of secondary materials. Holcim Ltd is dedicated to this sustainable construction pathway, cooperating with other interested parties and stakeholders.
Holcim Ltd joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 1999, a coalition of 175 international companies united by a shared commitment to sustainable development. Together with two industry peers, Holcim Ltd initiated the WBCSD’s member-led Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) in 2000 in order to help the cement industry to address the challenges of sustainable development. Holcim was again named “Leader of the Industry” in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) in 2007 and has thus been acknowledged as the company with the best sustainability performance in the building materials industry for the third year in succession.
Holcim Ltd is faced every day with decisions about financial performance, resource use, emissions, health and safety, and local community engagement. Holcim publishes a “Sustainable Development Report”, providing stakeholders with in-depth information and the conceptual framework to carefully manage the challenges of balancing the "triple bottom line".
 triple bottom line.
The Holcim Foundation is born
Holcim Ltd took this commitment to a new level by launching the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction in 2003. The Holcim Foundation reinforces public awareness of the significant role in society that architecture, engineering, and construction have towards achieving a more sound and sustainable future. The Holcim Foundation is supported by Holcim Ltd but is independent of its commercial interests. In today’s context of rapidly rising populations, mass migration, pressure on land resources, and Third World urbanization, radically different approaches are demanded of the construction industry to ensure that generations to come can live in a truly sustainable environment. | | | Holcim Foundation - an initiative of Holcim |  | As part of its commitment to sustainable development, Holcim initiated the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, which is supported by but independent of the commercial interests of Holcim.
Holcim Ltd
 Sustainable development at Holcim
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