Tim Kleier Joins Concrete NZ as Sustainability and Policy Director

After Concrete NZ’s new sustainability and policy director Tim Kleier first visited New Zealand from his native Germany in 2017, he spent the next six years keeping an eye out for the right job here.

Tim Kleier, Sustainability and Policy Director

Now freshly settled in Wellington with his family, Tim is looking forward to applying some of the lessons he learned about sustainability during decades working in Germany.

“My father was one of the founding members of the green party in my state. We didn’t have a car – we biked everywhere. Although politics was not a regular topic in family conversations, the sustainable lifestyle got ingrained into my everyday habits.”

Tim started as a draftsman apprentice in the steel industry, before working his way up to product development and project management.

His interest and background in sustainability was even then put to good use helping with progress towards lower emissions.

Having spent the past three years as Global Head of Green Steel for SMS group, he has some key learnings.

“From a technical viewpoint, both the steel and concrete industries can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

“The limiting factor, however, is that the application of new technologies hinges on the willingness of policymakers to create an environment where it makes sense to implement them, and the general public to ask for it and pile on the pressure.”

This is one of his reasons for moving from technology to policy.

“One issue I have repeatedly encountered is that the term ‘industry’ is associated with certain environmental impacts, and that people would rather wish it away, to be replaced by an alternative that looks to be more sustainable at first sight.”

“However, all materials that hope to achieve sufficient scale to supply millions of people will inevitably become ‘industry’ themselves, contributing to the problem in their own way.”

“As such, the goal is clearly not to maximise substitution, but to minimise emissions.”

"Emerging industries typically don’t exhibit negative effects until later, while many existing industries have gauged their impacts, committed to a decarbonisation pathway and become sustainability leaders, driven by passionate people."

“We can see this in Sweden, where environmentalists protest against the exploitation of forests after decades of scaling beyond natural borders while the cement industry is on track to deliver the first carbon-neutral, zero-water discharge operations in scale.”

“Globally the cement and concrete industry has recognised its responsibility and is moving towards cleaner ways of delivering their essential contribution to low-carbon, resilient and long-lived infrastructure.”

If there’s one place that can deliver the development of sustainable materials for the benefit of people, planet and a healthy economy, he says, it’s New Zealand.

“We are uniquely placed, in that we are close to nature and can see for ourselves the personal impacts of climate change. That’s already reflected in the increasing profile here of low-carbon concrete, with demand for locally produced as well as imported products taking off.”

“The concrete industry’s Roadmap to net zero carbon 2050 shows there are proven ways to reduce emissions, but it also demonstrates that it’s not just the technical side that’s the silver bullet, with all levels of government also playing a significant role,” Tim says.

Tim notes that Concrete NZ’s inaugural Sustainability Report also shows the industry’s commitment to fostering a sustainable future, by measuring both environmental and social footprints.

“I look forward to supporting the acceleration of this work to improve water efficiency, incorporate recycled materials into concrete production, and safeguard our workforce.”

For now, Tim’s focus is on getting around New Zealand to meet people, visit sites and build up his knowledge of Aotearoa. From there, he hopes to contribute to the momentum to enable the industry to lower emissions towards its 2050 goal.

“It’s a great opportunity to work in the concrete industry, with really exciting times in the sustainability space.”