Remix Droge Mortel BV
“LCAs give us an extra incentive to continue innovating”
Remix Droge Mortel has been producing mortars for floors, walls and facades for more than 40 years. Sustainability plays an important role — both in optimising the formulations and in managing transport, energy, packaging and waste. Conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) provides the necessary insight. Remix is now also represented in the Dutch Environmental Database with several category 1 environmental declarations.
Remix Droge Mortel aims to be the most environmentally conscious mortar manufacturer in the Netherlands. The company invests in making its factories and logistics more sustainable and continuously evaluates all parts of the organisation for CO₂, energy, binder and raw material awareness.
The less cement, the better
This led, among other things, to the development of the Green Collection, a line of “green” mortars with reduced cement content, explains Anna Houwing of Remix.
“Cement is the binding agent in mortars; it ensures adhesion to the masonry. The production of cement is one of the largest sources of CO₂ emissions worldwide. So the less cement we use, the better.”
“We have now succeeded in using 40% less cement in our mortars, while maintaining strong adhesion — and the workability has even improved. Our ideal is a completely cement-free mortar. We are not there yet, but we are working hard on it in our laboratories.”
Anna Houwing
Daily work
Remix Droge Mortel has two fully automated production sites in the Netherlands. Each site has its own laboratory.
“Our colleagues work there every day to improve our mortars and to tailor them, adjusting the mortar mix precisely to the properties of the brick being used. Every brick is different. One brick absorbs a lot of water, while another does not. This depends on factors such as the clay and the firing time of the bricks. But the timing of the masonry work — temperature or humid weather — also influences the result.”
“We adjust the mortar to the bricks and can produce any colour the customer wants, for example for distinctive architecture. If it turns out on a construction site that the mortar is not yet sufficiently workable, our lab immediately steps in to make the mortar smoother. That is daily work for us.”
Insight through LCAs
Anna is closely involved in conducting Life Cycle Assessments to gain even clearer insight into opportunities for further sustainability improvements. “It was quite a challenge to gather all the required data, especially because we were in the middle of a transition to new systems. As a result, the data was stored in different places. On top of that, you need a lot of input from suppliers. A Life Cycle Assessment really goes deep.”
“Having now organised everything gives us clarity and valuable insight. For example, we buy our big bags from a supplier who has them produced in India. That involves an enormous number of transport kilometres. It makes you think — why source them all the way from India?”
A tool for laboratories
Based on the LCAs, Remix has already implemented several adjustments in the production process. “Using as little cement as possible is something we have been working on for a long time, but back then we didn’t yet know what impact it had. Now we do.”
“We can load our formulations into the LCA software, after which a bar chart shows exactly which components contribute to the Environmental Cost Indicator (MKI) and to what extent. By adjusting the formulation in the software, we can directly see how this affects the MKI. It is a concrete tool for our laboratories — they then test whether it works in practice to use more of one additive and less of another. In this way, we optimise our formulations continuously.”
Sustainability across the entire chain
All aspects of the production process play a role in sustainability improvements. “Part of that process is, for example, drying sand — and that consumes a lot of energy. We capture the heat released during this process and feed it back into production, to use energy as efficiently as possible.”
“The ‘smaller’ things matter as well. We use packaging that consists of at least 50% recycled material and we separate production and packaging waste in the factory to enable maximum reuse. We generate our own energy through solar panels, drive at least hybrid vehicles and plan our transport routes in such a way that no trucks run empty. We look at every aspect of the chain to see where improvements can be made.”
Universal 'green' masonry mortar
Remix Droge Mortel is currently in the process of converting all bags of masonry mortar that are available on the shelves of building material suppliers. “Until now, we offered masonry mortar with and without lime, for different types of bricks. We have now optimised the masonry mortar so that you can use the ‘green’ mortar, with reduced cement content, for almost all brick types.”
“This means that only one type of mortar will remain on the shelves. This results in fewer different types of packaging, less stock and more professionals working with the masonry mortar that contains less cement.”
Positive encouragement
Several products from Remix Droge Mortel are now listed in the Dutch Environmental Database with category 1 data. “Our customers asked for it; they want to be able to calculate using the MKI. So this is an important step for us. We were able to make use of the NMD’s White Spots compensation scheme, which was very helpful.”
“The responses from the market have been positive. Many of our partners and competitors are also working on this. That is a good development. Together, we can show how we are contributing to sustainability. We are not standing still, and comparing MKIs creates healthy competition — we all want to achieve the lowest MKI, of course. It keeps us sharp and gives positive encouragement to continue innovating.”
“We recommend that every company invest in LCAs. They give insight into your organisation, processes and products. It is an effective way to make sustainability concrete, to keep continuous attention on it and to stay focused on your goals.”
