Displaying items by tag: Lafarge Canada

Canada: Lafarge Canada plans to develop and demonstrate a full-cycle solution to capture and reuse CO₂ from a cement plant. Project CO₂MENT will demonstrate and evaluate Inventys' CO₂ capture system and a selection of CO₂ utilisation technologies at Lafarge's Richmond cement plant in British Colombia over the next four years. This project is being led by Inventys in partnership with Lafarge Canada and Total. It also received financial support from CCP (CO₂ Capture Project), the Province of British Colombia and Canada's federal government through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

"At Inventys, we see a real opportunity to build a CO₂ marketplace where tonnes of CO₂ are traded between emitters and users," said Inventys president and chief executive officer (CEO) Claude Letourneau.

Phase I of Project CO₂MENT, the Contaminant Program, will attempt to reduce harmful organic and inorganic substances, such as sulphur dioxide, dust and soot, as well as nitrogen oxides, from cement flue gas. Phase II, the CO₂ Capture Program, will separate the CO₂ from flue gas using a customised-for-cement version of Inventys' carbon capture technology at pilot scale. Phase III, the CO₂ Reuse Program, will prepare post-combustion CO₂ for reuse and support the economical assessment and demonstration of CO₂ conversion technologies onsite, such as CO₂-injected concrete and fly ash.

Funding for the first two phases is complete and development of Phase I is underway. Phase I will begin operation in 2019 followed by Phase II and III in 2020.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has appointed David Redfern as the chief executive officer (CEO) of its Eastern Canada operations. Previously Product Line General Manager for Western Canada Aggregates and the Greater Vancouver area, Redfern joined LafargeHolcim in 1999 and has held numerous roles of increasing responsibility throughout Canada and France. He holds more than 25 years of experience in the construction materials business.

Redfern received his Bachelor of Political Science degree from Queen's University in Kingston. He also holds certificates of achievement from Duke University, INSEAD and the University of Toronto. He is a Board member of the National Zero Waste Council and Business Council of British Columbia.

Canada: Kate Strachan has become the new plant manager of the Lafarge Exshaw plant in Alberta, the largest in Canada. She took up the position in June 2018.

Born and raised in Warrington, UK, Strachan moved to Canada with her family when she was 10 years old, following her father’s job in marine engineering. She graduated from the University of Victoria with a mechanical engineering degree in 2000 before joining Lafarge Canada’s Richmond plant in the mechanical engineering department. Over the next 12 years she moved up through the mechanical department, eventually becoming the maintenance coordinator and then production coordinator at the plant.

After holding that position for several years she was promoted to production manager for Lafarge’s Sugar Creek plant in Missouri, US, but returned to Canada in less than a year to assist with the Exshaw plant’s US$600m expansion. “The commissioning of a new plant line is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so it was something I couldn’t really pass up,” said Strachan.

After spending nearly two years as the plant’s production manager, Strachan assumed her new role as plant manager in June 2018, taking over from Jim Bachmann, who was the plant manager since 2015.

Canada: Lafarge Canada, University of Calgary, Queen’s University, and Pembina Institute have started a study on the environmental benefits of introducing lower carbon fuels at the Exshaw Cement Plant in Alberta. Eight lower carbon fuels will be researched, including construction renovation and demolition waste, non-recyclable plastic, carpets and textiles, shingles, treated wood products, wood products, rubber and tyre-derived fuels. These sources of fuel have been successfully used at other LafargeHolcim cement plants in Canada.

“Lab simulations, environmental studies, economics and logistics reviews are already underway. All research will be finalised by December 2019 with regular updates provided to the neighbouring communities via a Public Advisory Committee,” said Jim Bachmann, the plant manager of Exshaw .

Additional research by the partners will measure the environmental components associated with the sourcing, processing and full-scale commercial operation of each lower carbon fuel compared to fossil fuels. The project will also measure the benefits of diverting materials from landfills and determine optimal points in the cement manufacturing process to inject each fuel.

In addition to Lafarge’s support, research funding is being provided by Alberta Innovates, Ontario Centres of Excellence, Emissions Reduction Alberta and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. It includes research by Millennium EMS Solutions Ltd., Geocycle, and WSP Global Inc.

As part of its 2030 Sustainability Plan, LafargeHolcim aims to replace 30 - 50% of fossil fuel use at its Canadian cement plants with lower carbon fuels by 2020.

Canada: As it awaits industrial approval from the Province to burn tyres at its Nova Scotia cement plant, Lafarge Canada says it has spent US$830,000 to install emissions monitoring systems. The company says its new equipment measures plant emissions such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and total hydrocarbons every 10 seconds.

Rob Cumming, Lafarge's environment director, says the company's proposed one year pilot project at its Brookfield plant will allow it to gather the scientific evidence needed to assure the public that it is safe to use scrap tyres as a replacement for coal.

In October 2017, the Environment Department said it was reviewing the company's application and would make a decision on the project within 60 days. The project has drawn criticism from residents near the plant, environmental groups and Nova Scotia's NDP, which has called on the Liberal government to ban tyre burning.

Canada: The New Democratic Party has called for a ban of burning tyres in Nova Scotia. The opposition political party held a news conference with opponents of the government's decision in July 2017 to approve a one-year pilot project allowing Lafarge Canada to burn tyres for energy at the company's Brookfield cement plant, according to the Canadian Press newspaper. No tyres have been burned at the plant so far as the cement producer waits for industrial approval of the project from the provincial government.

Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre said the government’s decision was based on a Dalhousie University engineering study that was too narrow in its focus and wasn't peer reviewed. However the government has said that it used several technical studies to inform its decision. A group of local residents also started legal action in August 2017 on the grounds that the project violated the province's Environment Act.

Canada: A man has died after falling nearly 10m from a catwalk at Lafarge Canada’s Beachville limestone quarry near Woodstock, Ontario on 23 August 2017. Walter Nuvoloni, 47, was a long-standing purchasing manager at the company. He had been in the position since 2001.

"This is a very difficult and tragic incident and we are deeply saddened at the loss of our colleague,” said Karine Cousineau, Lafarge spokesperson, in a statement. “Our thoughts are with our colleague's friends and family. Lafarge is providing the support of our employee assistance program to help co-workers cope with the loss." Cousineau added that Lafarge Canada would not be commenting further on Nuvoloni's death.

Police initially held the scene before turning over the investigation to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, which is investigating the death. Ontario Provincial Police Constable Stacey Culbert told local press that the ministry will re-contact police if the investigation deems any action to be criminal.

Canada: A group of residents close to the Lafarge Canada Brookfield plant has launched a court challenge arguing the Nova Scotia government's approval of a plan to burn tyres as an alternative fuel at the plant violated the Environment Act.

In his application for a judicial review, lawyer William Mahody wrote that Environment Minister Iain Rankin didn't properly assess the impact of emissions from the Lafarge plant in Brookfield on surrounding areas, stating that was a ‘strong potential for adverse effects’ on surface water, human health and wildlife from the project. The plan has run into criticism from environmental groups, municipal councils and area residents, who prevented a similar proposal a decade ago.
Nova Scotia’s waste diversion agency has shifted a supply of at least 280,000 tyres per year to Lafarge and recently approved the company's environmental application for a one-year pilot project to incinerate the tyres as fuel.

Lafarge says it can't comment on the judicial review. However, Robert Cumming, the environmental director at Lafarge, says research conducted off-site by a Dalhousie University engineer suggests the use of scrap tyres will lower the plant's CO2 emissions. "Our pilot project seeks to validate this evidence gathered from scientific reports and in Dalhousie University laboratories. The research team and Lafarge have committed to sharing the results with the community."

Canada: An agreement has been struck between Lafarge Canada and Metro Vancouver in which Lafarge Canada will use the solids removed during drinking water production by the municipality as an alternative raw material in cement production.

The residuals are the solids removed during the drinking water filtration process and consist of natural sediment and elements from the source water as well as coagulants and polymers from the treatment process. Between them, they have a chemical composition similar to that of red shale, one of Lafarge Canada’s raw materials. This means that the residiuals need not be landfilled and that less virgin red shale must be removed from the ground. The contract is for a minimum of 10,000t/yr.

“We are proud to have this partnership with local government and industry,” said Pascal Bouchard, the plant manager of the Richmond cement plant, which will use the residuals. “These residuals will soon be part of our city landscape, reused as an ingredient in concrete that is used in construction, from sidewalks to skyscrapers. I am hopeful that the research we have undertaken will allow other municipalities to consider industrial re-use options for their water treatment residuals.”

“We are very excited to be working with Lafarge on this innovative project, which uses residuals as a product, while reducing our overall environmental impact,” said Darrell Mussatto, Chair of Metro Vancouver’s Utilities Committee. “Our goal is to recover valuable resources from our utilities, and this project aligns perfectly with what we are hoping to achieve.”

Canada: NovaAlgoma Cement Carriers’ (NACC) Canadian subsidiary has been awarded a long-term time charter agreement with Lafarge Canada, for the provision of a modern pneumatic cement carrier early in 2018. A bulk carrier owned by NACC will be converted into a pneumatic cement carrier. It will have maximum cargo deadweight in excess of 12,500t. The conversion process is expected to take around 10 months.

The vessel will primarily carry cement from Lafarge Canada's cement plant in Bath, Ontario to distribution facilities throughout the Great Lakes but the vessel will be capable of other services for Lafarge. NACC Shipping Canada will operate and manage the vessel in Canada. No duration for the contract has been released.