The Roanoke Cement Co. Troutville, Va., campus has earned Gold certification under the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) rating system. Administered by Green Business Certification Inc., TRUE helps facilities define, pursue and achieve zero waste goals while becoming more resource efficient.
“Zero waste is an important part of any company’s sustainability strategy,” says GBCI and U.S. Green Building Council CEO Mahesh Ramanujam. “Through TRUE, we’re helping companies like Roanoke Cement enhance operations in a way that is transforming buildings and communities, and improving our quality of life.”
RCC Troutville attained TRUE Silver in 2019. “In order to elevate our certification, we ramped up zero waste policy to include, for example, physical audits of waste and improving recycling practices on-site,” notes Environmental Engineer Lindsey Layman. “As a result, we have created a zero-waste culture and achieved an average of 98.4 percent overall diversion from landfill, waste-to-energy incineration and the environment for solid, non-hazardous wastes.”
“TRUE Gold certification demonstrates the RCC team’s tireless commitment to continuously improving our recycling practices at the plant,” adds Titan America Mid-Atlantic Unit President Kevin Baird. “The initiative could not be possible without the collective effort of every person at our facility.”
Facilities achieve TRUE certification by meeting program requirements and accruing points on an annual scorecard. Each site is then audited and must submit yearly diversion data that demonstrates continuous compliance to achieve certification at four possible levels: Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum. RCC earned an additional 21 points from 2019-2020 by tightening its practices in reuse, audit, training and local purchasing activities related to diverted materials such as plant waste (spilled clinker, cement or raw materials), cement kiln by-pass dust and solid municipal wastes.
The Swiss parent of New Jersey-based Sika Corp. has joined Together for Sustainability (TfS), an initiative aimed at improving sustainability practices within chemical industry supply chains. Through its membership, Sika AG commits to sustainable procurement and quality standards in the supply chain. TfS participation also reflects the company’s overriding goal of reducing enterprise-wide carbon dioxide emissions 12 percent per ton of output through 2023.
As a global network of 25 members, TfS promotes environmental, social and governance performance standards. Embodying United Nations Global Compact and Responsible Care principles, it enables member companies to assess the environmental, labor & human rights, ethical and sustainable procurement performance of their suppliers and drive measurable improvements of their suppliers’ as well as their own sustainability metrics.
“Sustainability is a core element of our growth strategy and procurement plays a key role making sure we select our vendors according to the highest standards,” says Sika Procurement Head Marcos Vazquez. “Joining TfS will allow Sika to learn and exchange with its members best practices in sustainability, and to actively participate in the improvement of sustainability practices within the supply chains of the chemical industry.”
“The membership of Sika will enable TfS to further deliver on its strategy to continuously increase the sustainability impact of global chemical supply chains,” adds TfS President Bertrand Conquéret. “Sika will benefit from the TfS framework, collaborative mindset and robust tools to assess and improve the sustainability performance of its supplying companies while at the same time increase its own responsible sourcing program. Together with the other 24 TfS member companies, Sika will contribute to shaping the future of the chemical industry.”
GCP Applied Technologies Inc. has reached an agreement with Pan-United Concrete Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pan-United Corporation Ltd., Singapore’s largest concrete and cement provider. The agreement implements GCP’s Verifi concrete management system for more than 300 Pan-United concrete mixer trucks. The technology provides automated process monitoring and control during transit from the concrete plant to the jobsite; sensors installed on mixer trucks monitor, measure and manage concrete properties. Verifi offers a new level of quality control and helps increase concrete consistency from one truck to the next to reduce rejected loads, increase jobsite efficiency and minimize costly project delays.
“Our agreement with Pan-United is an important step in expanding the global reach of our Verifi in-transit concrete management system and strengthening our position in the Asia Pacific market,” says GCP Executive Vice President of Specialty Construction Chemicals Dr. Boudewijn Van Lent. “Pan-United is a global leader and proven concrete technology innovator, and we are pleased to build our partnership and continue to improve the quality, consistency and efficiency of how concrete is delivered.”
“The Verifi system is a breakthrough innovation. It sets higher standards for concrete quality, workability management and consistency. It also improves the productivity of our operations and demonstrates our commitment to sustainability,” adds Pan-United Corp. Chief Operating Officer Ken Loh. “Expand[ing] the use of Verifi in our fleet is an important step in leading the way to driving innovation deeper into the concrete industry, while enhancing efficiency and providing sustainable solutions to our customers.”
The Penetron Group has appointed Middle Tennessee State University Concrete Industry Management program graduate Richard Farmer as Midwest and Southern regional sales representative. He will collaborate with project owners or developers, engineers, contractors and distributors on effective concrete waterproofing and durability-enhancing solutions using Penetron crystalline technology. With a focus on product and supply sales, subcontracting and general contracting, Farmer has held sales management positions at various contracting, ready mixed concrete and material supply companies for 15-plus years.