Project LIME: Laos Initiative for Managing Concrete Emissions
By Sheena Kanon Leong, Taishin Noble, Luna Vassão
Laos’ growing reliance on concrete, driven by urbanization and infrastructure projects, poses a significant environmental challenge.
Cement production, a significant contributor to the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, remains largely unaddressed in existing policy frameworks. While Laos has introduced sustainability initiatives, these efforts lack clear directives for reducing embodied emissions from concrete production and integrating sustainable construction materials into the market. Poor waste management and the absence of standardized monitoring tools further hinder progress toward a circular economy. To bridge this gap, Project LIME proposes the adoption of co-processing—utilizing waste to substitute fuel and raw materials in cement kilns—and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to strengthen transparency in material sustainability. These methods will be integrated through inter-ministerial coordination, private sector incentives, and alignment with international certification standards, paving the way for a more sustainable domestic construction industry with far-reaching effects across the ASEAN region, particularly in supporting sustainable public procurement initiatives.
To find out more about the project, please visit the GraSPP Blog
