Lafarge Canada has achieved a major sustainability achievement at its Richmond cement plant.

The company, a member of Holcim Group, announced it has converted 100 per cent of its production to low-carbon cement using ECOPlanet cement. ECOPlanet, Holcim’s brand of low-carbon cement, offers a minimum 30 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions per tonne in comparison to ordinary Portland cement.

This achievement makes it the first cement plant within the Holcim Group worldwide to certify 100 per cent of its production in ECOPlanet cement.

“This is a proud moment for our organization,” said Brad Kohl, president and CEO of Lafarge Canada (West). “This conversion in Lafarge’s Western Canada division highlights our strong commitment to accelerating green growth. As leaders in sustainable building solutions, we take pride in having a positive impact on building solutions across its lifecycle without compromising the quality and long-term durability of our products.”

The Government of BC and CleanBC Industry Fund have been instrumental in facilitating decarbonization projects efficiently. Through the Innovation Accelerator Fund, the Richmond Plant received funding to assist with the addition of supplementary cementitious materials to cement and has been the key to decreasing the greenhouse gasses per tonne of cement produced on site.

“Globally, Holcim is a leader in sustainable building materials, and ECOPlanet is a great example of our innovative solutions,” said Toufic Tabbara, region manager, North America at Holcim. “By adopting low-carbon cement processing additions like at the Richmond plant, we continue to lower the embodied carbon in our building materials.”

According to Lafarge, the ECOPlanet range of low-carbon cement is designed to meet the most stringent performance specifications while upholding the highest standards of sustainability. With compliance with all industry standards, this cement is suitable for various applications regardless of performance requirements.