DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Summit Materials, Inc. (NYSE: SUM) (“Summit,” “Summit Materials,” "Summit Inc." or the “Company”), a leading vertically integrated construction materials company, announces that its Davenport plant, operated by Continental Cement Company, LLC (“Continental Cement”) a subsidiary of Summit, has converted 100% of its annual production to Portland Limestone Cement (“PLC”). In 2021, the Davenport plant produced approximately 1.1 million tons of cement.
Portland Limestone Cement (“PLC”) is a blended cement with a higher limestone content, which results in a product that has similar performance characteristics as traditional Portland Cement, but with a reduction in carbon footprint of 10% on average.
"Continental Cement Company has been working with our customers and specifiers to commercialize Portland Limestone Cement (“PLC”) in all of our markets, and we are delighted that PLC adoption has progressed quickly,” commented David Loomes, Continental Cement President and Senior Vice President of Summit Materials. “PLC reduces concrete embodied carbon by approximately 10% while delivering resilient and durable infrastructure to our communities. The conversion of our Davenport plant can pave the way for more widespread adoption of PLC throughout our markets and more broadly throughout the United States.”
Continental Cement is an established industry leader in championing lower carbon solutions and the use of alternative fuels, deriving an average of about 40% of the Company’s total fuel usage from alternative fuels (based on 2021 usage) across its two plants located in Davenport, Iowa, and Hannibal, Missouri. The Company’s Hannibal cement plant processes both liquid and solid hazardous waste as a fuel source, while its Davenport Cement Plant uses non-hazardous alternative fuels from surrounding industrial facilities. Continental Cement’s subsidiary, Green America Recycling, LLC (“Green America”), is a crucial component for sourcing, securing, and implementing the Company’s alternative fuel strategy. As such, Green America is in the process of expanding its Hannibal facility. The Company also expects that its Hannibal cement plant will also soon transition to PLC, the timing of which will be determined as market adoption progresses.
“Our transition to PLC at Davenport aligns with the Portland Cement Association’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality,” commented Tom Beck, EVP of Summit Materials. “Given the significant role of cement in society and anticipated infrastructure development, it is critical that the industry comes together and acts now to create sustainable building solutions for decades to come. The U.S. cement and concrete industries can collectively address climate change, decrease greenhouse gases and eliminate barriers that are restricting environmental progress through the continued adoption of product and manufacturing innovations.”
About Summit Materials
Summit Materials is a leading vertically integrated materials-based company that supplies aggregates, cement, ready-mix concrete and asphalt in the United States and British Columbia, Canada. Summit is a geographically diverse, materials-based business of scale that offers customers a single-source provider of construction materials and related downstream products in the public infrastructure, residential and nonresidential end markets. Summit has a strong track record of successful acquisitions since its founding and continues to pursue growth opportunities in new and existing markets. For more information about Summit Materials, please visit www.summit-materials.com.
About Continental Cement Company
Continental Cement Company is a leading provider of cement based in Chesterfield, MO with plants in Hannibal, MO and Davenport, IA and 9 distribution terminals along the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, MN and New Orleans, LA. Continental Cement has built its business on consistent quality, superior service, and delivering a great experience since they began producing cement at their Hannibal location in 1903. The Company provides high quality cement for projects along the Mississippi corridor and is a subsidiary of Summit Materials, Inc.
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