60 years of Tiles and Bricks Europe
This year, Tiles and Bricks Europe – TBE celebrates the 60th anniversary of the association’s founding. Marking this occasion, European clay brick and roofing tile producers met in Brussels on 10 October to attend the General Assembly.
Since 1952, the association has promoted the interests of our sector in Europe and represents a valuable forum for the members to exchange information. Today, TBE is a relevant stakeholder in Brussels and plays an important role in many policy areas, such as construction, sustainability, climate and energy, standardization and environment.
TBE brings together industry associations and companies from 24 countries (20 EU member states plus Croatia, Norway, Russia and Switzerland). The membership includes more than 700 companies of all sizes, from SMEs to world market leaders, and 1 300 production sites from across Europe.
On the afternoon of the 10 October, TBE organized a workshop on affordable energy-efficient housing at the European Parliament. This workshop, which was chosen as a side-event of the European Week on Regions and Cities, was attended by representatives of the European Parliament and European Commission and other relevant stakeholders. The event underscored the importance of a consistent policy framework and better access to EU financial instruments in order to promote investments in new energy-efficient buildings and the renovation of the existing building stock. Participants also acknowledged the major role that the brick and tile sector plays in the field of affordable and energy-efficient buildings, as clay products are durable, affordable and deliver considerable energy-saving potential thanks to their high thermal insulation.
The celebration of the 60th anniversary ended with the gala dinner at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science. This was also the occasion to officially welcome Adolfo Aiello as new Secretary General of TBE. Mr Aiello, who is also Director for Climate and Energy at Cerame-Unie – the European Ceramic Industry Association, has worked with TBE members on the implementation of the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) for the last four years. He replaces Christophe Sykes, who has become the new Director General of the Council of European Producers of Materials for Construction (CEPMC).
Dr Heimo Scheuch
TBE President
