MANUFACTURING
ECOCEM MATERIALS, F13 Portview House, Thorncastle Street,
Ringsend, Dublin 4. Tel: 01 667 0900. www.ecocem.ie
Cutting out
carbon
Aimingtobecarbonneutralby
2012,Ecocemhasalreadyreduced
itscarbonfootprintsignificantly,
withconstantinnovation
happeningateachofitsplants
‘The facilities in Ireland and
Holland can each produce
about 350,000 tonnes of
GGBS cement’
Donal O’Riain
C
EMENT manufacturer Ecocem’s ambition is in Ireland, located at Dublin Port. It also has a GGBS pro- financialrecognitionforitsroleinreducingCO2emissions
to be carbon neutral without using offsets by duction facility in The Netherlands, supplying the Dutch in Ireland. Its only option is trading verified emission
2012, and it expects to make one million and Belgian markets. Another facility is currently under reductions (VERs) in the voluntary market.
tonnes of CO2 savings in Europe by the end constructionatFosintheSouthofFrance.Atotalof48peo- Inlate2007,UN-accreditedauditorsSGScertifiedthatEco-
of this year. ple are currently employed at the plants. cem makes a real and measurable reduction in CO2 emis-
The company produces granulated blast-furnace slag “The facilities in Ireland and Holland can each produce sionsinIreland.ThismeansitcannowsellVERsvalidated
(GGBS) cement, an environmentally-friendly alternative about 350,000 tonnes of GGBS cement. The facility in andverifiedtothehighestinternationalapplicablestandard:
to the commonly used Portland cement. GGBS is a recy- France,whenitopensinlate2009,willhavethecapacityto the Voluntary Carbon Standard. “Ecocem needs to sell the
cled project, manufactured from blast-furnace slag, a by- produceover700,000tonnesofGGBS,”saysConorO’Riain. VERs to ensure continued production of environmentally
product of steel-making. Much lower levels of CO2 and While working for a concrete company in Spain, Donal friendly cement in Ireland and the further development of
other emissions are produced during its manufacture O’Riain was charged with finding a cheap alternative to thecompany—resultinginfurtherCO2reductionsworld-
than during the manufacture of ordinary cement. cement.HediscoveredGGBS,whichalsoturnedouttobe wide,” O’Riain notes.
Concrete is responsible for 6pc of worldwide CO2 emis- technicallybetter,architecturally morepleasingandmade Via its new website, www.emissionzero.ie,Ecocem
sions — to put this in context, aviation barely reaches 3pc. huge savings on CO2 emissions. encouragesbusinessesandindividualstocalculatetheircar-
Over 90pc of the emissions from concrete come from the Developments using GGBS in Ireland have included the bon footprint and advises on strategies to reduce it. Com-
manufactureofcement.Foreverytonneofcementproduced, JackLynchTunnel,theLuasTaneyBridgeinDundrumand panies wishing to become carbon neutral can buy Ecocem
roughly a tonne of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. Spencer Dock. offsets.ExamplesincludetheElectricPicnicArtandMusic
“Because Ecocem’s cement is a recycled industrial by- DespitetheadvantagesofferedbytheavailabilityofEco- Festival and corporate law firm, McCann Fitzgerald.
product,itscarbonfootprintweighsinatatiny45kg.InIre- cem’scement,thecompanyhascomeupagainstobstacles. O’Riain says research and development is a vital part
land, we have had a hugely positive impact on the “We have been unjustly excluded from the EU Emissions of Ecocem’s culture. “We are constantly looking at improv-
environmentmakingthesinglelargestreductioninCO2emis- Trading Scheme due to lobbying from the cement indus- ing the efficiency of the plants. In Ireland and the Nether-
sions. To date, almost one million tonnes of CO2 emissions try. It means everyone apart from us is subsidised to use lands, we use ball mills to grind the slag, while in France
havebeenavoidedthroughtheuseoftheEcocemproduct,” our raw material,” says O’Riain. we’re investing in a vertical mill to reduce the amount of
says Conor O’Riain, business development manager. “The Ecocem has approached various Government ministers, energy needed in the process. We’re also looking at up-
worldwide potential for Ecocem’s technology is a further including the Minister for the Environment, Heritage cycling — the concept of taking the waste product and
reduction of 76 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.” and Local Government, John Gormley TD, on getting joint- making it into a high-value product — as well as additives
Setupin2001byDonalO’Riain,Ecocemoperatesfrom implementation status. The company’sonlyaccesstosub- that could be used in the cement to affect the speed at
a purpose-built GGBS grinding plant, the first such plant sidies for the purchase of raw materials lies in gaining which it goes solid.”
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