The Union Bridge plant is currently the company's largest cement plant 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 ordinary portland cement. With a carbon footprint that is as much as 10% smaller than ordinary portland cement, EcoCem PLC is helping to make more sustainable concrete in the markets served by the Union Bridge plant.
This latest change reinforces Lehigh Hanson's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and reflects the ambition of its global parent company, HeidelbergCement, to become the first to offer carbon-free cement and concrete at scale.
"We are excited about the transition to EcoCem PLC at our Union Bridge cement plant," said Alex Car, President of Lehigh Hanson's Northeast Region. "This switch is just the latest example of our push to expand our portfolio of more sustainable products and reduce our CO2 footprint across the cement and concrete value chain."
With this transition, Lehigh's Union Bridge cement plant will avoid approximately 126,000 tons of CO2 per year – the equivalent of removing about 27,000 cars from the road per year. Lehigh will continue to work with customers and key stakeholders such as agencies, architects and engineers to further accelerate the transition to more sustainable solutions.
The move to EcoCem PLC at Union Bridge follows similar changes at the company's Mason City, Iowa, cement plant 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.
