Who are they?
Heidelberg is the world’s largest cement producer and a major manufacturer of aggregates and ready-mix concrete.
What do they do?
In 2007 the company bought Hanson (UK) and thus became the owner of three plants and one aggregates quarry in the occupied West Bank through Hanson Israel.
Hanson Israel owns 26 concrete plants, three aggregate quarries and two asphalt plants. Four of these are located in Israeli settlements in the West Bank: concrete plants in Modi’in Illit and in Atarot Industrial zone, an asphalt plant and an aggregates quarry south of Elkana. The quarry exploits occupied Palestinian natural resources for the needs of the Israeli construction industry.
Additionally, through Hanson Israel, the company supplied construction materials to construction projects in the settlements. Hanson Israel concrete truck was documented delivering concrete to the expansion of the Barkan settlement industrial zone.
Who else has taken divestment action against this company?
- In December 2015, Denmark’s largest pension fund PFA Pension blacklisted Heidelburg due to its ” illegal activities in relation to the occupation of the West Bank.”
- In June 2015 KLP, the largest life insurance company in Norway, decided to divest from HeidelbergCement Group because the company’s “operations are associated with violations of fundamental ethical norms.”
http://investigate.afsc.org/company/heidelbergcement-group