Displaying items by tag: Canada

Canada: Lafarge Canada, a subsidiary of Holcim, has inaugurated a new low-carbon fuel facility at its Exshaw cement plant, in a joint effort with Geocycle Canada. The US$28m facility is supported by a US$7.4m contribution from Emissions Reduction Alberta through the government’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction fund. It will reduce natural gas consumption by up to 50% for one of the plant’s kilns by substituting it with alternative fuels (AF) sourced from construction and demolition materials, primarily wood. Geocycle will process the materials into AF. This initiative is expected to divert up to 120,000t/yr of discarded materials from landfill, reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 30,000t/yr.

President and CEO of Lafarge Canada (West), Brad Kohl, said "Our commitment to building a sustainable future is at the core of everything we do. The low-carbon fuel project is a prime example of how innovation and collaboration can drive positive change, lowering our environmental footprint through the use of discarded biomass materials while closing the material loop to conserve natural resources.”

Canada: Geocycle and Lafarge Canada, together with the Department of Natural Resources Canada, have opened a new low-carbon fuel plant at the Lafarge Canada Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. The facility, which cost over US$7.5m and received US$2.6m in federal funding, will convert 14,000t/yr of discarded materials headed for landfill into low-carbon fuels, reducing the plant's reliance on fossil fuels and its carbon emissions by over 12,000t/yr. The materials to be repurposed include plastic and construction and demolition materials. The cement created at the facility will be used to make concrete for construction projects in the local area and is expected to create jobs for the local community.

President and CEO of Lafarge Canada (East) David Redfern said "Cement is a vital component of infrastructure projects that contribute to economic growth. By implementing sustainable and innovative solutions to reduce our environmental impact, we're serving the needs of our customers and the communities in which we operate both now and in the future. Our continued collaboration with Geocycle Canada reinforces our commitment to invest and advance circular construction in Canada."

Head of Geocycle North America Sophie Wu said "At Geocycle, our solutions are circular by design. We are happy to take another significant step in our ongoing partnership with Lafarge Canada. This is a great example of our work toward the decarbonisation of the construction industry in Canada."

Canada: Lafarge Canada will receive a supply of 300t/yr of sewage sludge solids from Capital Regional District (CRD) to mix in topsoil used in rehabilitation at its former Cassidy aggregates quarry in British Columbia. The Victoria Times Colonist newspaper has reported that CRD had held a supply contract to provide sewage sludge solids to Lafarge Canada for use as alternative fuel (AF) at its Richmond cement plant. The cement plant suspended its operations for ‘most of 2022’ and throughout the first five months of 2023. British Columbian law requires sewage sludge solids to be used in beneficial applications.

The district council of CRD says that it expects the Richmond cement plant to resume receiving deliveries of its sewage sludge solids in mid-June 2023.

Canada: Lehigh Cement has initiated the administrative process to begin the use of alternative fuels (AF) in cement production at its Picton cement plant in Ontario. Under the company’s plans, the plant will substitute 200t/day of AF for coal and petcoke at the plant. Possible AF sources include excess seed from farm feed production in Ontario. The Picton cement plant previously reduced its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement by 20% through assorted sustainability initiatives.

Picton plant manager Carsten Schraeder said that the move will support Canada’s 2030 emission reduction plan, and also take pressure off landfill sites.

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to apply for a licence to substitute alternative fuel (AF) for a part of its coal, gas and petcoke fuel mix. The plant previously held a two-week AF substitution trial in May 2011. CBC News has reported that the subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos will present its plan at an evening meeting for the general public on 18 November 2021. The company says that it plans to implement similar AF arrangements to those at its Bowmanville plant, where it uses 90,000t/yr of biomass, wood from construction and demolition and non-recyclable paper and plastics.

Environmental manager Ruben Plaza said "Lower CO₂ emissions is the first consideration and, equally as important, the material has to be approved and available in sufficient quantities with a reliable and sustainable long-term supply."

Canada: Holcim subsidiaries Geocycle Canada and Lafarge Canada have signed a long-term partnership agreement with British Columbia’s Capital Regional District. Under the agreement, the district administration will supply Geocycle Canada with biosolids from treated wastewater. The waste management company will then process the waste into cement fuel at Lafarge Canada’s integrated cement plant at Richmond in British Columbia. The plant will process 6000t/yr of biosolids.

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to increase its use of alternative fuels to 400t/day from 96t/day at its Bowmanville plant. The Toronto Star newspaper has reported that the plans will entail a 90,000t/yr reduction in the plant’s coal and petcoke consumption.

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) has praised the state government of Ontario’s Made-in-Ontario environment plan. The plan prioritises the phasing out of coal in industry.

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Michael Sweeney said, “Our industry has consistently advocated regulatory measures facilitating the transition from fossil fuels to low or zero-carbon fuels from materials otherwise going to landfill as a cornerstone of reducing greenhouse gases from cement manufacturing.” He continued, “Regulatory changes that remove barriers to this transition will, over time, allow the Ontario cement sector to eliminate significant greenhouse gas emissions – 1Mt in the next five years alone – as our cement plants implement new technologies. Equally important, diverting waste products from landfills will dramatically reduce landfill emissions, significantly magnifying the benefit of these measures in the fight against climate change.”

Canada: The Capital Regional District (CRD) in British Colombia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ḱenes Transportation, a Wsáneć First Nations partnership company, to contract the transportation of biomass produced at a sewage treatment unit at Hartland Landfill to Lafarge Canada’s Richmond cement plant. The dehydrated biofuel made from treated wastewater is then coprocessed as an alternative fuel at the integrated cement plant. The agreement will last up to five years while the CRD develops long term plans for the biosolids, according to the Times Colonist newspaper.

Canada: Reports from Lafarge Canada’s Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia have indicated the effectiveness of burning tyres as fuel there. CBC has reported that, as part of a 12-month investigation, scrap tyres were burned ‘off and on’ for a month at the 0.6Mt/yr integrated cement plant. Following further staff training, tyres will replace coal in the kilns on a full-time basis. Environment and Public Affairs Director Robert Cummings has said that there has been no notable change in emissions. Lafarge Canada will release the results of an emissions check including testing for low-concentration materials not covered by emissions monitoring in early January 2020.