CRH - UN JI Project

CRH PLC
29 March 2007



                   CRH INVESTS €210m IN UKRAINE CEMENT PLANT
            FIRST EVER JOINT IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT REGISTERED BY UN


CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces that the United
Nations Joint Implementation Supervisory Committee (JISC) has registered CRH's
project to convert its cement plant at Kamenets-Podilsky in Western Ukraine from
wet to dry process.  The €210 million total investment will be a flagship
project for CRH in Central and Eastern Europe.


This is the very first Joint Implementation Project to be registered (JI 0001).
It is an important milestone in the abatement of CO2 emissions under the Kyoto
Protocol and demonstrates the importance of emission reductions to CRH and the
participating countries, Ireland and Ukraine.


Under the JI project, €140 million will be spent on replacing an existing 3
million tonne per annum wet process plant with a new state-of-the-art dry
process cement plant.  It will have the potential to reduce emissions of CO2 in
Ukraine by up to 3 million tonnes by 2012 and is a significant part of CRH's
corporate CO2 reduction plan.  An additional €70 million will be invested to
modernise the plant's existing cement milling capacity and infrastructure.  The
new plant will be the largest investment in the Ukrainian cement industry since
independence in 1991 and marks growing inward investment in the Ukrainian
economy.


CRH was assisted in the JI application process by a number of agencies notably;
Global Carbon BV which developed the investment as a JI project; TUV SUD Group
which validated the project; the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment and the Irish
Environmental Protection Agency which issued Letters of Approval and the UN JISC
which completed the registration process.


Commenting on this development, Liam O'Mahony, CRH Chief Executive, said 'CRH
has operated successfully in Ukraine since 1999 and is one of the largest cement
producers in the country.  This project is an important milestone in the
abatement of emissions under the Kyoto Protocol and a clear sign of CRH's
commitment to reducing specific CO2 emissions across its operations.  It
demonstrates CRH's commitment to meeting the needs of the Ukrainian economy in
an environmentally friendly and operationally efficient manner'.


Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 ([phone])

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Myles Lee, Finance Director

Eimear O'Flynn, Head of Investor Relations

Maeve Carton, Group Controller


CRH plc, Belgard Castle, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE [phone]
                               FAX [phone]

   E-MAIL [e-mail] WEBSITE www.crh.com Registered Office, 42 Fitzwilliam
                           Square, Dublin 2, Ireland


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