Sustainability Prize 2025: The most innovative projects in the raw materials industry!

Sustainability Prize 2025: The most innovative projects in the raw materials industry!

The ceremonial event for the awarding of the Sustainability Prize 2025 took place on May 22, 2025 in the Sofiensälen in Vienna. This award highlights outstanding projects in the raw materials industry and emphasizes their importance for environmentally conscious and responsible business. The moderator Kristina Inhof led the evening, while Federal Minister Mag. Norbert Totschnig was able to underline the relevance of raw material companies in his keynote speech. Johann Eder, Chairman of the Raw Materials Forum, also spoke about the increasingly necessary environmentally conscious corporate management.

The Sustainability Prize is awarded every three years and honors companies for their special activities in the areas of ecology, economy, social issues, communication and, for the first time, also for the special prize “Small Company – Big Innovator”. The submitted projects often exceeded the legal requirements with regard to climate and environmental protection, animal welfare and social commitment, which convinced the jury.

Winner of the Sustainability Prize 2025

In the ecology category, the Lungauer Sand- und Kieswerk Lassacher GmbH & Co KG received the prize for the project “Saxicola Rubetra – A new habitat for the whinchat”. Leube Zement GmbH was honored in the communication category for its project “Gartenau Citizens Advisory Board – Environmental Mediation: Dialogue Recipe for Success”. Rhomberg Bau GmbH won in the economics category with the project “The End of the Landfill: The new wet processing plant of Rhomberg Bau GmbH in the Rhine Valley Resource Center”. In the social category, the Carinthian Omya GmbH was able to prevail with the project “Digital Mine – Secure and attractive jobs in the raw materials industry”. The special prize “Small Company – Big Innovator” went to Rögner Sand & Kies GmbH for the “floating electrically operated bucket chain excavator”.

The Mineral Raw Materials Forum represents 113 members who extract around 35 million tons of mineral raw materials every year. In Austria there are around 950 active sand and gravel pits as well as around 350 quarries, which together produce around 100 million tonnes of mineral raw materials per year and employ around 15,000 people.

Innovation in the construction industry

Innovation can also be seen in other areas of the construction industry, as the example of KONE shows. The company recently introduced the industry's first completely carbon neutral elevators. These elevators are emission-free not only during manufacture and assembly, but also during maintenance. KONE relies on a combination of reduction and compensation of CO2 emissions and promotes the reusability of waste.

Comprehensive measures such as converting the vehicle fleet to e-mobility and targeted production methods using renewable electricity support the goal of working climate-neutrally worldwide by 2030. KONE already pursues a high recycling rate of 94 percent and strives to source materials from sustainably managed suppliers.

Market analysis and challenges

Current developments on the European market indicate that the prices for emission certificates fluctuate greatly. Factors such as the introduction of national carbon markets in other countries and the geopolitical situation in Europe influence the EU carbon price. In the future, prices for EU carbon emission certificates are expected to remain high, although short-term fluctuations are to be expected. The EU is pursuing the goal of drastically reducing carbon emissions by 2050, which will also have an impact on emissions trading pricing policy.

Analysts predict that EU allowance prices could average 81 euros per tonne of CO₂ in 2023, rising to 94 euros in 2024. Political ambitions in the EU are shaping long-term price trends, so falling prices are unlikely unless fundamental policy changes are made.