Lafarge Canada announced that its Bath Cement Plant, located near Kingston, Ontario is fully converting its production of general use cement (GU) to reduced carbon portland limestone cement – branded as OneCem – the company’s eco-efficient alternative.
Over the past few years, Lafarge has continuously worked towards full conversion to OneCem, a sustainable product that presents significantly less CO2 emissions while providing the same performance and durability. “We are committed to developing our green portfolio and advancing towards a sustainable future with OneCem as a step on the journey,” commented Andrew Stewart, VP, Cement, Lafarge Eastern Canada.
According to Robert Cumming, head of sustainability & public affairs, Eastern Canada, “From 2018 to 2021 only, we have saved more than 140,000 tonnes of CO2 by converting GU cement to OneCem in our plants across Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia – the equivalent to taking 42,891 cars off the road, which would have consumed 59,640,854 liters of gasoline. With the recent conversion of the Bath Plant’s GU production to OneCem, these numbers will continue to grow.”
The portland limestone cement, OneCem, contributes to lowering the industry’s carbon footprint not only during the manufacturing process – while cement typically represents only 11 per cent of a concrete mix, it can account for more than 80 per cent of all energy required to produce concrete. “At the Bath Plant, we are excited to increase our OneCem production and to provide our customers with this sustainable product, so that every project they build with our product can have a smaller carbon footprint,” affirms Ignacio Arroyo, Bath Cement Plant Manager.
“We have had a successful partnership with Lafarge Canada for almost 30 years now – Toronto Redi-mix’s full transition from GU to OneCem has been very smooth,” said Guido Cosentini, General Manager at Toronto Redi-mix. “The product has presented great results right from the beginning – the performance and quality have been identical to standard cement. For us, the main benefit is certainly the sustainable aspect of OneCem. We look forward to maintaining a fantastic partnership with Lafarge Canada and using OneCem for many more years to come.”
Across Canada, Lafarge has produced over 6 million metric tonnes of OneCem since 2011, and users can be confident in its performance whilst reducing the carbon footprint in the built environment and community. “OneCem is the go-to product today for general use cement with lower environmental impact than traditional cements while maintaining fantastic performance in the field. As we move forward, our objective at Lafarge is to continue innovating and further the conversion of our customers across Eastern Canada to more sustainable products like OneCem,” adds Stewart.
Featured image: Marilyn Towers, Mississauga (ON) – project built with OneCem. (Business Wire)
