Sources: Summit Materials Inc., Denver; CP staff
Summit Materials’ Missouri subsidiary, Continental Cement Co. LLC, has consummated a full conversion from clinker-only to portland-limestone cement output at its Hannibal plant— four months after a similar transition at a sister mill up the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa. The PLC is typically finished at a 90/10 clinker and ground limestone blend.
The Hannibal and Davenport plants shipped a combined 2.1 million tons in 2021, and will realize an embodied carbon reduction of 10 percent in PLC deliveries when measured against legacy output. The conversion from pure clinker powder advances Summit Materials’ 2030 and 2050 goals for decarbonizing operations and delivered materials or products.
“A lower carbon future requires the cooperation of the entire cement-concrete-construction value chain, and we are delighted with the quick adoption of PLC by our customers and specifiers who supported this pivotal change at our plants this year,” says Continental Cement President and Summit Senior Vice President David Loomes. “In addition to shrinking our carbon footprint through the use of alternative fuels in the manufacturing process, the conversion to PLC reduces concrete embodied carbon by approximately 10 percent while delivering resilient and durable infrastructure to all markets where Hannibal and Davenport cement is supplied.” Liquid or solid alternative fuels derived by Continental Cement’s Green America Recycling subsidiary and used in place of higher carbon dioxide-emitting coal, he adds, account for more than 40 percent of Hannibal and Davenport cement kiln power.