Lafarge Canada, a member of Holcim Group, has completed the initial phase of its ECOCycle technology pilot project, which incorporates concrete demolition materials in the production of fresh cement.
“By reusing construction and demolition wastes in the production of new building materials, we are reducing waste sent to landfill,” said David Redfern, president and CEO of Lafarge Canada East. “Across Lafarge Canada we’re evaluating any opportunity to decarbonise our operations and circularity is part of this effort. This pilot is critical to demonstrate that we can effectively repurpose concrete waste which goes a long way to conserve our naturally occurring resources and loops in construction sustainability- building new from old.”
Around 10 million tons of construction and demolition waste is generated in Canada each year, and 4 million tons of this total is concrete waste. Reusing wasted concrete both keeps the material from landfills and serves as a raw material for new projects.
The construction industry faces a number of obstacles to decarbonisation, including the carbon-intensity involved in producing one of its main building materials: cement. Cement is the most globally consumed product next to water and is responsible for 8% of the world’s overall emissions.
Lafarge’s efforts toward concrete circularity mark a way to decarbonise the industry. As the sector struggles to meet net-zero targets, additional support for proven emissions-reducing innovations is a necessary step towards meeting Paris Agreement goals.
“We are advancing our goal of creating a circular ecosystem for construction materials as well as offering a material impact on our CO2 footprint through utilising these lower embodied carbon materials as raw materials,” said Andrew Stewart, vice president of Cement at Lafarge Canada East.
