North American energy first for St Marys Cement

St Marys Cement’s Bowmanville plant, Ontario, is the first to receive the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 50001 certification in North America. St Marys Cement Inc., a subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos North America, held a ceremony at the Bowmanville plant yesterday to celebrate the certification, which was officially registered in November 2011. At the ceremony, CEO of International Certification Services, Michael Delisle, presented the award for energy management to St Marys Cement Inc. CEO Erik Madsen.

“St Marys identified the benefits and embraced the certification process early. The ISO 50001 programme and cement plants are a logical fit. Our Bowmanville plant has a rated capacity of over 1.8 million metric t of product, operates 24/7 and consumes significant amounts of energy. Managing these energy costs is a no brainer – it is good for the environment and our bottom line,” said Madsen on receipt of the certification.

Speaking at the ceremony, Bowmanville plant Operations Manager Fabio Garcia said, “Receiving this prestigious certification was not something that happened overnight. The origins of this certification can be traced back to 2005 when we were given the green light by senior management to move forward with an integrated strategy to reduce the plant's energy consumption. This quickly became an initiative supported, and made possible, by all of our employees.” 

“The most important milestones on the journey toward ISO 50001 certification was establishing our E=MC2 internal management and conservation committee. This cross-functional team, with representatives from Finance, Human Resources, Environment, Quality Control, Maintenance, Mining and Production departments, identified and acted upon over 100 separate energy efficiency initiatives,” explained Garcia.

Electricity consumption at the Bowmanville plant has been reduced by more than 10.3 million kWh since 2005. Energy-intensive operations are now usually performed at off-peak hours and energy use is monitored in each section of the plant.

Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/08062012/cement_canada_st_marys_energy_bowmanville_votorantim/