Silver Spring, MD -- The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has certified the first four concrete plants in its new Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification Program. NRMCA member Titan America has certified three plants:
- Clear Brook Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Clear Brook, VA, at the Silver level
- Suffolk Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Suffolk, VA, at the Bronze level
- Bryan Park Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Richmond, VA, at the Bronze level
Unibeton, located in the Middle East, certified the following plant:
- Mussafah Ready Mixed Concrete Plant, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the Silver level
Launched earlier this year, the NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program is designed to help concrete producers demonstrate excellence in sustainable manufacturing. The program includes quantitative, performance-based metrics to provide ready mixed concrete producers with specific guidance to assess their production practices and implement sustainability strategies that will ultimately lower their overall footprint.
To certify, plant personnel use a document titled Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines that rates a plant's level of sustainability within different credit categories, with the objective of reducing carbon footprint, energy consumption, water use and waste; increasing recycled content; and improving human health and social conditions. Plants can achieve between 0 and 100 points depending on how many sustainability credits are achieved and their level of performance within each credit.
Plant personnel use the Guidelines to assess their plant and collect documentation for those credits for which they are claiming points and submit the documentation to NRMCA along with appropriate application forms and fees. NRMCA then sends the application and documentation to a third-party auditor who reviews the application and documentation to determine if the plant meets the criteria described in the Guidelines for all the points being claimed by the plant. If the plant meets the certification criteria NRMCA awards the plant with the appropriate NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification level:
- Bronze: 30-49 points
- Silver: 50-69 points
- Gold: 70-89 points
- Platinum: 90-100 points
The Certification is valid for two years, after which a plant must recertify. Plant personnel use the Guidelines to implement new sustainable practices or improve on existing practices with the objective of recertifying at a higher level to demonstrate continuous improvement in the manufacturing process. Although developed specifically for the U.S. market, the certification program is flexible enough to allow international concrete producers to participate in the program.
"Titan America and Unibeton should be very proud for being the first plants in the world to certify their plants in the NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program," said Lionel Lemay, senior vice president of sustainability for NRMCA. "These two companies have clearly demonstrated their commitment to continuous environmental improvement." In addition, Lemay indicated that certifying at the Bronze and Silver level this early in the program is a remarkable achievement since the program is extremely rigorous. Lemay doesn't expect Gold and Platinum level plant for several years since it will take time and investment for plants to implement the strategies to achieve these higher levels of certification.
The Guidelines were developed over a three-year process through generous funding from the RMC Research & Education Foundation. The development process was managed by NRMCA by engaging concrete producers and industry consultants from all over the world with expertise in sustainability and environmental management. For more details on the NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification program, please visit www.nrmca.org/sustainability/certification.
