Continental Cement produces lowest carbon PLC to date

Continental Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Summit Materials, has produced a 20 per cent Portland limestone cement (PLC), the lowest carbon PLC to date, as part of a research project for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the National Road Research Alliance. The research project evaluated the performance of low carbon cement products for use in future transportation infrastructure procurement and material selection to reduce overall environmental impacts. 

PLC provides similar performance characteristics to traditional Portland cement, but with a reduced carbon footprint of 10 per cent on average. The cement produced for this project, known as Type IL (20) Cement, further reduces the carbon footprint of PLC over what is currently allowed in US cement specifications, paving the way for discussions to further improve cement and concrete standards, says Summit Materials. 

“The blended cement provided by Continental is an important part of this study because it is material that can be used in construction today and reduce greenhouse gases by 18-20 per cent over traditional Portland cement. This study will provide real-world data about how this cement performs in harsh exposures, which is needed to move this cement into everyday use,” said Larry Sutter of Sutter Engineering LLC, the cement and concrete industry expert contracted to test and evaluate the concrete’s performance and generate a final report for MnDoT. 

Continental Cement has converted 100 per cent of its annual production to PLC and its manufacturing facilities can readily transition to produce PLC IL (20) cement.