Environment

Harmful Substances

Cembrit products do not contain substances that are hazardous to the environment.  Leaching tests are performed to confirm the low risk our products pose to the local environment as well as complying with the current REACH policies. The surface coatings on our products are water-based acrylic paints which are primarily pigmented with inorganic iron oxides.

Users of fibre cement products who seek high performance and reliable green building materials should source products that have been tested by accredited laboratories and proven to be 100% free from asbestos or other harmful materials such as sepiolite or formaldehyde.

Asbestos-free fibre cement products

Cembrit was one of the many fibre cement producers that used asbestos to produce fibre cement building materials due to its durable and hard-wearing properties. During the last century, it became clear that asbestos fibres can be harmful to health when inhaled. Studies showed that when asbestos-containing products are dismantled, the resulting airborne fibres cause health risks when inhaled.

During the 1980s, stricter regulations on the use of asbestos started being rolled out in Europe and as a result, Cembrit started the phase-out of asbestos in the 80s. The five production plants currently operated by Cembrit have been completely asbestos-free for over two decades. The fibre cement industry continues to face the consequences of having used asbestos in the construction. Today, we continue to seek solutions to ease the handling and disposal of old asbestos products in a safe manner.

How do I know the fibre cement boards are free from asbestos?

Look for the production code on the product. For products produced after Jan 2001, the code contains “NT” , which states that it is “Non-Asbestos Technology”. For boards produced before 2001 please contact Cembrit Technical Department for evaluation of the production code.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a collective name for a group of magnesium silicates with a fibrous structure that occur naturally in the earth's soil. Asbestos is still produced in Russia, China, Brazil and Kazakhstan.

How to handle products with asbestos?

The handling of products containing asbestos varies and is dependent on the country, state or region you live in.

First of all, you need to establish if the product contains asbestos. You can check by looking at the product number - if you find the marking NT, those products does not contain asbestos. If you are in doubt, contact your local Cembrit Technical Department who can help evaluate the production code.

Once it is established that you are dealing with a product containing asbestos, you should contact your local authorities and get advice on how products containing asbestos should be handled.

Production’s environmental impact and mitigation of CO2

We continuously assess our production with a focus on energy optimisation. We strive to utilise resources efficiently, to reduce waste and emissions as well as their impacts on the environment, and also to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources throughout all the stages of a building’s life cycle.

The environmental properties of our fibre cement products are declared in a 3rd party validated and product specific Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). In house and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data are used to proactively optimise production and mitigate our CO2 footprint.

All Cembrit production units are certified in accordance to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 (OHSAS 18001).

Influence on environment and indoor comfort?

Cembrit products do not contain hazardous substances. Leaching tests are performed to confirm the low risk our products pose to the local environment as well as complying with the current REACH policies.

Selected indoor products are certified according to M1 Emission Classification of building materials. This certificate provides an assessment of the chemical impacts, if any, our indoor products have on the environment.