On 16 March 2024, the Communiqué on the Promotion of the Use of Green Cement with Low Carbon Emission in Public Procurement Contracts (“Communiqué”) was published in the Official Gazette, numbered 32491. This communiqué aims to encourage the use of green cements (CEM II, CEM III, CEM IV, CEM V and similar) with lower clinker ratios and carbon emissions, which offer distinct advantages over CEM I-Portland cement. It also seeks to define the limitations in public works contracts and tenders for the procurement of cement-containing goods.
The Communiqué includes definitions of the terms used and outlines the implementation principles.
According to the Communiqué, the following terms are defined as indicated:
- CEM I-Portland: “Traditional Portland cement containing at least 95% clinker and at most 5% mineral additives.”
- Clinker: “Coarse-grained material formed by the combination of baked clay and limestone in cement production.”
- Green cements: “Cements other than CEM I-Portland cement, which are included in TS EN 197-1 standard and/or contain less than 95% clinker and more than 5% mineral additives. They are divided into different groups according to the mineral additives added to their content.”
Pursuant to the Communiqué, to encourage the use of green cement, the clinker/cement ratio of cement to be used in public works contracts and tenders for the procurement of goods containing cement is limited as follows:
“a) between 1/1/2025-31/12/2029 (…) to a maximum of 0.80,”
“b) from 1/1/2030 (…) to a maximum of 0.75.”
The Communiqué entered into effect on the date of publication. It constitutes an important step towards achieving green consensus targets, particularly in terms of implementing carbon regulation mechanisms at the border.
You can access the Communiqué via this link. (Only available in Turkish)
