Alejandro Sors
Jose Luis Najera Ruiz
Luis Gerardo Martinez Cantu
Everardo Castañeda
EGADE Business School Tecnologico de Monterrey
Alejandro Rios
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CEMEX ecological stoves are designed with the purpose of replacing the use of the traditional stove that produces high smoke emissions that cause serious health problems.
"We manufacture the stoves with a clean technology design that concentrates the heat in a closed and protected concrete compartment, and reduces smoke emissions inside the home up to 99%."CEMEX Ecological Stoves are an initiative aimed at the production of clean technology stoves, through a design that integrates an airtight compartment that protects the heat and allows energy savings.
These stoves represent an alternative to the use of traditional stoves that pollute the environment, contribute to the informal felling of forests and generate diseases.
Within the framework of its inclusive business programs related to the construction of housing for vulnerable sectors, CEMEX detected a new opportunity for impact based on the need to heat houses. In this way, it launched a project of ecological stoves made of concrete, which are marketed through a sustainable business model whose objective is to incorporate the low-income population as partners, consumers and suppliers.
According to data from various international organizations:
Around the world, more than four million people die each year due to causes derived from the use of wood stoves.
More than 300 thousand of these cases are related to burns.
These figures are equivalent to one death every eight seconds, with children and women being the most affected.
According to statistics, in Mexico more than 28 million people cook with a stove; this causes damage to health and the environment in many communities throughout the country.
- Decrease the risk of inhalation of carbon monoxide.
- Reduce by half the amount of firewood that each family uses to cook or generate heat.
- Control environmental deterioration.
Thus, these ecological attachments help reduce acute cases of respiratory infections, generate savings in wood consumption and reduce informal logging of forests, safeguarding the environment. These conditions generate an improvement in living conditions in many homes and contribute to the empowerment of women, who spend the most time cooking
"As a member of our communities, we play a responsible and collaborative role in their economic and social development through our inclusive businesses. Since 1998, more than 2.6 million people in our communities have benefited from our inclusive business strategy."
Because this program is aimed at low-income communities, the company’s reach has expanded to areas that were previously untapped. CEMEX has expanded its distribution network and gained more than 120,000 new consumers. This has helped CEMEX reclaim its leadership position in the Mexican market, especially in low-income segments.
The company rigorously employs financial indicators to measure the program’s payback, ROI, present value, and more. CEMEX’s investments in this program have been quickly recovered as a result of the business model.
"This strategy insures a sustainable growth for our company, getting closer to our clients and introducing products that solve important issues for our communities."
- Reduces smoke emissions inside the home up to 99%.
- Reduces cases related to burns derived from the use of wood stoves
- Reduce causes of death derived from the use of wood stoves
- Control environmental deterioration.
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Urbano Gonzalez, Gerente Negocios Inclusivos y Sociales
CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high-quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries. They have a rich history of improving the wellbeing of those they serve through innovative building solutions, efficiency advancements, and efforts to promote a sustainable future.