Lafarge Canada has launched a lower carbon fuel (LCF) system at its Richmond plant in Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of cement.
Pascal Bouchard, plant manager, says: “Lafarge is aligned with Metro Vancouver’s sustainability goals for recovering energy from landfill-bound solid waste, a classic example of the Circular Economy in action. This new system allows us to more easily reach our target of substituting 50% of our fossil fuel use with lower carbon options. Data from our pilot suggests we can go higher—even up to 70% is realistic."
The system, valued $28 million, received funding support of $14m from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.
Lafarge says LCF is mainly comprised of primarily non-recyclable waste byproducts; waste that does not have an existing or economically viable recycling outlet and is bound for landfills.
This is expected to allow the company to divert approximately 100,000 tonnes per year of waste from local landfills, the equivalent of about 8,300 loaded garbage trucks.
Sophie Wu, head of geocycle North America, LafargeHolcim’s waste management subsidiary, says: “With an ever growing population, using waste as a source of energy is the future of waste management and recycling. It offers superior environmental performance compared to landfill and incineration of waste and significantly reduces greenhouse gas emission from cement production."
