IN Brief:
- Proposed rules could increase free allocation for clay and ceramic products.
- Sector-specific fuel benchmarks are planned from 2031.
- ETS revenue would support grids, electrification, circularity, and industrial decarbonisation.
Wienerberger has welcomed European Commission proposals to revise elements of the EU Emissions Trading System, arguing that the changes could provide greater investment certainty for energy-intensive ceramic construction-product manufacturing.
The legislative package includes a proposed legal basis for increasing free carbon-allowance allocation for clay blocks, clay pipes, and ceramic tiles during the 2026–2030 benchmark period.
According to Wienerberger, the provision would reduce emissions-trading costs across its clay building-material and ceramic operations, leaving more capital available for lower-carbon technology and production upgrades.
A more gradual benchmark reduction after 2030 is also proposed, together with an extension of free allocation beyond the phase-out currently envisaged.
From 2031, sector-specific fallback fuel benchmarks would replace the cross-sector approach used for some ceramic production, allowing future allocation levels to reflect the technical characteristics of kilns and related processes more closely.
The package also contains an ETS investment booster covering 2027–2030 and an Industrial Decarbonisation Bank planned for 2031–2040. Both mechanisms are intended to support fuel switching and investment in lower-carbon industrial equipment.
Member states would be required to direct at least half of ETS revenues towards renewable generation, electricity grids, industrial decarbonisation, and circular-economy projects.
Heimo Scheuch, chief executive of Wienerberger, said the proposals represented an important step towards combining European industrial competitiveness with climate objectives.
Ceramic construction products rely on high-temperature manufacturing processes that traditionally use natural gas or other fuels. Emissions arise from combustion and, depending on the raw material, chemical reactions during firing.
Decarbonising those processes is more complex than purchasing renewable electricity for a conventional building. Manufacturers may need to redesign kilns, introduce electric heating, change burners, modify raw-material blends, recover heat, and strengthen connections to electricity or alternative-fuel infrastructure.
Those investments require substantial capital and carry long operating lives, often while established production lines must continue supplying the market. Policy visibility extending beyond a single trading period is consequently central to decisions over whether a plant is modified or comprehensively replaced.
Free allocation is intended to limit the risk of manufacturing moving to jurisdictions with weaker carbon controls, although excessive protection could weaken the incentive for industrial conversion. Any revised regime must preserve European capacity while retaining a credible reduction pathway.
Heavy construction products are particularly exposed to regional manufacturing economics. Bricks, pipes, and tiles carry relatively low value compared with their mass, making long-distance transport expensive and giving local production an important role in supply resilience.
If European plants close because carbon and energy costs become unmanageable, replacement imports may carry higher transport emissions and less transparent production data. Conversely, protection without firm decarbonisation conditions could delay investment in more efficient kilns and alternative processes.
Electrification also depends on infrastructure beyond the factory boundary. Ceramic plants need sufficient grid capacity, competitive electricity prices, and confidence that low-carbon power will remain available continuously for energy-intensive production.
The European programme for grid development, storage, and electrification is therefore closely connected to the viability of industrial conversion. Manufacturers cannot replace gas-fired equipment with electrical systems where local networks lack capacity or reinforcement requires several years.
Circularity can reduce demand for virgin material and firing energy through improved manufacturing yield, recovered feedstocks, longer service life, design for reuse, and recycling during demolition.
Construction clients will increasingly encounter these changes through product prices and environmental declarations. Carbon allowances, fuel contracts, plant investment, reporting obligations, and transport all contribute to the financial and embodied-carbon profile of materials specified for projects.
The Commission’s proposals remain subject to the European legislative process, with benchmark calculations, conditions attached to free allocation, access to funding, carbon-credit rules, and the post-2030 pathway still to be settled.
For ceramic manufacturers, the effectiveness of the package will depend on whether it enables long-term plant investment without widening the cost gap between European products and imports manufactured under different carbon regimes.
