We are FCC Nº26

cement The meeting, which took place in the Port of Santander (Cantabria), was organised by the Cement and Environment Labour Foundation (CEMA Foundation), and by the two main national trade unions, CCOO del Habitat and UGT FICA. Present at the event were the minister of rural development, li- vestock, fisheries, food and en - vironment of the Government of Cantabria, Juan Guillermo Blanco, the mayoress of Santander, Gema Igual, the mayor of Valdeolea, Fer- nando Franco, the president, Fran- cisco Luis Martin, and the director of the port authority of Santander, Santiago Díaz, representatives of UGT FICA and CCOO del Hábi- tat de Cantabria, representative of CEOE-CEPYME de Cantabria, the management of the cement fac- tory of Mataporquera of Cementos Portland Valderrivas and other re- presentatives of the port authority. Beatriz Malagón, director of the Mataporquera plant, explained the situation of the factory, which in 2022 had sales of 640,374 tonnes of cement of which more than 90% was exported through the Port of Santander facilities. Beatriz reviewed the environmen- tal indicators for the year and the good results obtained in the appli- cation of circular economy policies, an example of good practice being the implementation and certifica - tion of the plant’s Energy Manage- ment System in accordance with the UNE-EN 50001:2018 standard. The meeting highlighted the agree- ment recently reached in the Euro- pean Union on the Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), one of the key historical demands of the cement industry, because it will guarantee a balanced treatment Public authorities visit the Cementos Portland Valderrivas Group’s facilities in the Port of Santander of imports in all member countries. This mechanism will also avoid the unequal competition that exists be- tween the national and internatio- nal markets, in cement and clinker imports from countries that do not apply policies to reduce CO 2 emis- sions and that operate at lower costs, damaging the national mar- ket and the health of the planet. Cementos Portland Valderrivas factory in Cantabria This factory is one of the most advanced in replacing fossil fuels with fuels derived from waste at national level, with a substitution percentage of 61%, given that the national average is 37%. 90% of the cement produced at the Mataporquera factory is exported from the RAOS Port facilities The Mataporquera factory is a reference in circular economy at national and European level Meeting in the Port of Santander, in Cantabria. B U S I N E S S B U S I N E S S 20