News Aggregates
Lafarge looks to double recycled aggregates volumes by 2025 in Eastern Canada

Lafarge Canada has declared an ambitious goal of doubling Eastern Canada recycled aggregates volumes by 2025—a set target to supply customers with over 2 million tonnes per year.

The use of recycled aggregates alone is a key component of Lafarge Canada’s journey to Net Zero, directly associated with the global demand for sustainable building solutions to support better living standards.

“2021 was a record year. Having achieved a 19 per cent growth rate last year exceeding our original ambition of 15 per cent, encourages our teams to confidently work towards our 2025 Aggregates Strategy,” commented Peter Sanguineti, Vice President, Aggregates Eastern Canada. “In fact, we are already looking to accelerate this year’s growth rate, aiming at 25 per cent – a 10 per cent annual prediction increase – based on our ongoing projects with key partners in Eastern Canada.”

“In addition, our high quality recycled aggregates significantly reduce the volume of virgin material to be transported by trucks over time,” commented Marie-Michèle Poirier, Manager, Environment & Land, Eastern Canada, “In order to reuse construction waste and turn it into recycled aggregates, we transport the waste directly to stockpiles at cities’ depots, which traditionally is a shorter distance compared to virgin material transportation from quarries to construction sites, resulting in a significant decrease in GHG emissions.”

“Our objective is to follow the circular economy’s three principles of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to build more with less and preserve our ecosystems. In that sense, our efforts are focused on expanding applications for recycled aggregates and raising quality and acceptance standards; and at the same time, address current barriers across Provincial and local governments,” affirms Sanguineti. “When you consider the logistics benefits of being close to the market and the need for a trusted outlet for demolition waste, we have a winning recipe.”

Partnerships in Eastern Canada

Over the past years, in Eastern Canada, Lafarge has supplied recycled aggregates to multiple projects in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and the Infrastructure Ontario, including Metrolinx and the most recent QEW Credit River project.

In addition, lately, the company has been working with subcontractors to Mosaic’s Finch Light Rail Transit (LRT) project to supply recycled aggregates in Mississauga, Ont.

According to Lafarge, these applications prove the versatility and high performance standards of its recycled aggregates portfolio in traditional applications.

“In one of our most recent endeavours, we have been supplying multiple contractor partners performing the work for the various projects as part of the City of Toronto Basement Flooding Protection Program,” says Mark Lambie, Commercial Manager, Greater Toronto Area Aggregates. “The city primarily uses recycled concrete for trench backfill and bedding as part of the roadwork and their Flood Protection Program upgrades to water and wastewater in infrastructure. This proves that with proper processes and controls in place to guarantee product specifications, quality and consistency in addition to proper traceability, it can be safely utilized in a much broader and complex range of applications.”