This acquisition made HeidelbergCement the number one producer of construction aggregates, the second-largest in cement and the third-largest in ready-mixed concrete worldwide.

Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the cement industry profited massively from state-run construction and armaments projects, leading to a generally positive view of the policies of the Reich government among workers and management of the company.

[9] A capital increase in HeidelbergCement in September 2009, combined with a selling of shares from the Merckle family, opened up for other international owners and higher trading volumes on the stock exchanges.

[15] Heidelberg has entered new important markets, including France and Italy in Europe, Egypt and Morocco in North Africa and Thailand in Southeast Asia.

[29] Heidelberg Materials has been heavily involved in the planned construction of a controversial cement plant on the Indonesian island of Java through its subsidiary "Indocement".

In addition to the destruction of the complex ecological system, the construction also has created the marginalization of partially indigenous living inhabitants of the region to follow.

[32] In this region, the indigenous known as Sedulur Kendeng are protesting against the planned mining operation of PT Semen Indonesia, a state owned enterprise.

[33] In addition to the protest against the factory building and its ecological consequences as "misconceived 'development' at the expense of indigenous and peasants", the activists also appealed politically at Heidelberg Materials that a multinational "company should not invest in environmental destruction and human rights violations, in any country in the world.

"[41] In October 2017, Danish pension firm Sampension added Heidelberg Cement to its blacklist, because it operates an asphalt factory and quarry in the West Bank.

[42] In California, after 80 years of operations and more than 2,000 violations over a 10-year period the part Heidelberg-owned[citation needed] Leigh Cement factory and quarry announced in 2023 that it would shutdown.

[43] According to ABC7, the environmental advocacy non-profit Green Foothills claimed that the cement plant was the worst source of air pollution in the county of Santa Clara.

[43] HeidelbergCement has faced criticism for its continued presence in Russia despite the geopolitical tensions and sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Leave Russia project, HeidelbergCement has yet to fully withdraw, raising questions about its ethical practices and commitment to international standards.

[44][45] In March 2024, residents of Glyncoch, near Pontypridd in South Wales, engaged in a series of protests around the over-riding of the local authority's opposition to extend quarrying, by the Minister of Climate Change, Julie James.