Lafarge's Richmond plant to focus solely on OneCem production

Marking a big shift in helping to reduce CO₂ emissions in construction across western Canada, Lafarge (Holcim group) has announced that its Richmond plant will manufacture only OneCem, the company's lower carbon Portland limestone cement for use in materials across British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

Lafarge has converted the entire facility to OneCem, ensuring that all cement produced there maximises reductions. "OneCem is one of our many answers to building sustainably," shares Brad Kohl, president and CEO of Lafarge in western Canada. "OneCem offers all the same performance and qualities as standard cements, but with significantly less CO₂ emissions."

Using OneCem in concrete decreases CO₂ emissions while ensuring the same level of strength and durability as concrete produced with regular Portland cement. "The built environment plays a central role in the transition towards a low-carbon economy," says Dr Rob Shogren, technical director Cement North America. "We can make concrete more sustainable when we adjust how it is produced and used."

"This has been a long term goal for our operations," explains Cory Cannon, VP of Sales and Logistics. "Through collaboration with municipalities, constructors, and engineers, we have encouraged the shift away from standard cements and converting to OneCem since 2011. This commitment means that every product manufactured with OneCem has lower emissions than ever before."

Richmond’s OneCem CO₂ emissions per tonne are 20 per cent below the national Canadian average for GU cement. Concurrently, it’s also 13 per cent lower than the national average for other PLC cements manufactured in Canada. Since 2011, when Richmond began producing OneCem, "We have eliminated 1,175,000,000kg of CO₂ from our atmosphere. This is equivalent to taking a quarter of a million vehicles off our roads for an entire calendar year," says Cannon.