Nominee
Cemstone Products Company
Category
Innovative Company
Description
Cemstone Products Company is a 5th generation family-owned business that has been in existence for ninety-six years. They continually strive to produce concrete more sustainably and at a higher quality every year with a focus on safety. They have received numerous safety, environmental, and quality awards from NRMCA as a member company as well as at the local level.
Cemstone’s history reflects strong values, dedicated people and state-of-the-science technology committed to our products and services. They continually seek methods and technology to increase concrete performance while improving the environmental impact of the processes and end product. These are outlined as part of the core values: demand safety, expect integrity, drive excellence, embrace collaboration, empower innovation.
Evidence
In 2022 Cemstone used nearly 6 million gallons of clarified water, reducing the amount of fresh water used to produce concrete. Additional clarified water was utilized for washing ready mix trucks. There are currently 17 ready mix plants with weirs that can utilize this clarified water. Weirs are planned for each newly constructed plant. We track, monthly, each plant’s clarified water usage and then work to increase the usage at each plant. Cemstone was the first producer in Minnesota to have a MnDOT approved clarified water source and continues to add additional sources. This approval allowed for increased clarified water usage by allowing it to be used in DOT projects. Cemstone has increased its focus on using recycled concrete aggregate to decrease the amount of virgin aggregate that is mined for concrete use. Over 1,400 tons of recycled concrete aggregate were used in concrete during 2022. Discussions with the engineering community have provided a path forward to utilize recycled aggregate in commercial projects. Cemstone has been a contributor to the NRMCA EPD and Regional Benchmark report. We are furthering our commitment to EPD’s by developing plant and mix specific versions. This is in collaboration with the engineering community to establish baseline performance and potential avenues for improvement of the GWP for concrete mixtures. Cemstone is currently the only ready-mix producer on the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) for MnDOT’s study to create a process to include EPD’s in the bidding process. Cemstone is finding ways to reduce its carbon footprint throughout the company. Electric vehicle charging stations are provided at the corporate office, solar power is used at some facilities through solar panels and subscriptions to solar gardens. Facilities are being retrofitted with LED lighting by replacing fluorescent bulbs and making sure the proper recycling of the old lights is taking place. Energy audits are also being performed to find innovative ways to conserve resources. Cemstone has 9 plants that have recognized for Environmental Excellence by the NRMCA with 6 of these plants being regional winners. The NRMCA Safety Gold Award was bestowed to 24 plants in 2022. The safety culture has continued with weekly safety communication from the Corporate Safety Director leading to a decrease in injuries for 2022 and continuing to focus on this in 2023. They have also received the Producer Excellence in Quality Award for the last 12 years.
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