Union Bridge plant to transition to EcoCem®PLC production

Lehigh Hanson’s (HeidelbergCement group) Union Bridge plant will fully transition from producing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) to EcoCem^®PLC as its primary product by no later than January 2023. The Union Bridge plant is currently the company’s largest cement plan in North America. 

EcoCem^®PLC is a Portland limestone cement (PLC) produced using innovative technology to increase the amount of limestone and decrease the amount of clinker used. This reduces both the energy required to produce EcoCem^®PLC and associated emissions, making EcoCem^®PLC a greener alternative to OPC. With a carbon footprint that is as much as 10 per cent smaller than OPC, EcoCem^®PLC is helping to make more sustainable concrete in the markets served by the Union Bridge plant.

With this transition, Lehigh’s Union Bridge cement plant will avoid approximately 126,000t of CO₂ per year, the equivalent to removing about 27,000 cars from the road per year. 

The move to EcoCem^®PLC at Union Bridge follows similar changes at the company’s cement plant in Mason City, Iowa, and its three cement plants in Indiana. In 2021 the company produced more than two million tons of PLC and is well on its way to more than double that in 2022.