Construction industry faces improving environmental standards

TIRANA, Sep. 21 – There is a new emphasis on fighting pollution and bringing Albanian businesses up to the environmental standards applied in the European Union.
The trend is seen in places like the new cement plant built on the outskirts of the central city of Kruja. It’s owner, Titan, says it is the first company in Albanian to apply environmental standards based on those of the European Union.
The area around Kruja suffers from many years of environmental pollution, therefore building a new cement factory that did not further damage the environment was important for foreign investment in Albania.
The construction of the plant has a cost of 200 million euros, and it can produce up to 1.5 million tons of cement per year. It is expected to meet local market needs and to export part of its production.
“This plant represents one of the best technologies in the world that’s currently available, for the production process as well as the environment and health,” Antea Cement General Manager Angelos Kalegorakos told VOA’s Albanian service. Antea is the company that built the Titan plant.
The plant is expected to last 100 years, projected as unique factory production line with stable quality and very high environmental standards.
“Since the beginning of the investment, we decided to follow European Union standards for environmental protection. Not only that, but we also decided to follow the guidelines of EBRD and IFC, which are much stricter than anywhere in the world. From the environmental standpoint, this factory is one of the best that can be found in Europe and around the world,” Kalegorakos added.
Plant’s designer said that another element of success is close co-operation they found with the local residents, the local government and the central government.
The construction industry is one of the most developed sectors of the Albanian economy. In employs the largest number of workers and is one of the areas with more profits. Albania is an area rich in raw materials for construction, but very few so far have been careful to protect the environment as these materials are used. Erosion of river beds and slopes of the mountains have caused a tremendous erosion of the last 20 years.