Roanoke Cement has announced its Troutville campus has been awarded Gold certification under the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) rating system.
Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI) administers TRUE to help facilities pursue and achieve zero waste goals will becoming more resource efficient.
According to GBCI CEO Mahesh Ramanujam: "Zero waste is an important part of any company's sustainability strategy.
"Through TRUE, we're helping companies like Roanoke Cement Company enhance operations in a way that is transforming our buildings and communities and improving our quality of life."
Lindsey Layman, environmental engineer at Roanoke, says: "In order to elevate our TRUE Zero Waste certification, we ramped up our zero waste policy to include, for example, physical audits of waste and improving recycling practices on-site.
"As a result, we have created a zero-waste culture and achieved an average of 98.4% overall diversion from landfill, waste-to-energy incineration and the environment for solid, non-hazardous wastes."
Roanoke says facilities achieve certification by meeting programme requirements and accruing points on an annual scorecard.
Each site is then audited and must submit annual diversion data that demonstrates continuous compliance to achieve silver, gold or platinum certification, the company adds.
From 2019-2020, Roanoke earned an additional 21 points by tightening its practices in reuse, audit, training and local purchasing activities related to diverted materials.
These materials included plant waste (spilled clinker, cement or raw materials), cement kiln by-pass dust and solid municipal wastes.
Roanoke, which is part of Titan America, runs the only active cement plant in Virginia and its products include a variety of bulk and packaged portland and masonry products.
Bulk products are distributed through a series of strategically-located distribution terminals in Virginia and North Carolina.
The company's packaged products are available through a network of distributors.
