St Lawrence Cement Group Inc - Lauded for cutting greenhouse gas emissions
St Lawrence Cement is pleased to announce that it has been commended last week by Marcus Peacock, Deputy Administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency for having achieved significant greenhouse gas reductions under the EPA’s Climate Leaders program. St Lawrence Cement was able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 16 per cent from 2000 to 2006, surpassing its original target of 15 per cent four years ahead of its target date of 2010.
St Lawrence Cement was able to meet its reduction requirement through energy efficiency projects, and through the growing use of supplementary cementitious products and alternative fuels. The company invested tens of millions of dollars in new infrastructures to convert by-products from the steel and other industries into valuable cement substitutes or replacement for non-renewable fossil fuels.
This reduction was achieved on top of a reduction of more than 9% from 1990 to the year 2000. "We are proud to be the first cement company in North America to have met all the requirements of the EPA’s voluntary reduction program", said Philippe Arto, President and CEO. "We are confident that this is the right approach and we further commit to reduce our net greenhouse gas emissions by 20% per ton of cementitious products between the same baseline year of 2000 and the year 2012", he added.
With this recognition, St Lawrence Cement joins an exclusive group of only eight companies having reached their reduction commitments under the EPA’s program. Since 2002, the Climate Leaders program has provided valuable guidance and recognition to leading companies across many industries to help them develop and implement long-term comprehensive climate change strategies. EPA estimates that the goals announced to date through Climate Leaders will prevent more than 11 million metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions per year - equal to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from more than seven million cars.
St Lawrence Cement Group is a leading producer and supplier of products and services for the construction industry, namely cement, concrete, aggregates and construction. The company operates in Canada and on the eastern seaboard of the United States, and employs a total of 3300 people.
