Holcim unveils Oklahoma cement plant

Holcim, a member of LafargeHolcim based in Chicago, unveiled its new plant at its Ada, Oklahoma, cement facility after a three-year modernization project. The cement from the Ada facility provides the infrastructure to supply the region’s growing manufacturing industries.

Throughout the three-year project, the modernization of the Ada facility maintained approximately 120 permanent plant jobs, working alongside more than 380 contractors. The project took more than 900,000 man hours with no serious injuries.

Through Geocycle, LafargeHolcim’s waste management company based in Dundee, Michigan, the Ada cement plant reuses more than 3 million scrap tires a year as a supplemental fuel to replace at least 20 percent of the fossil fuel used to power its facility, in addition to coal and natural gas.

“The Ada facility has been a significant part of the local and regional economy since 1907,” says John Stull, CEO U.S. Cement, LafargeHolcim. “By modernizing the plant, we have transformed it into an efficient, competitive and state-of-the-art facility that will allow us to meet the growing needs of our customers and remain a strong partner to the community for the foreseeable future.”

The modernization investment focused on construction of a new kiln line designed to meet and exceed emission limits, improve operational performance and increase capacity to meet market growth. As a result, manufacturing capacity is anticipated to increase by 20 percent, producing approximately 682,000 metric tons of cement annually to support the region’s transportation and construction industries.

“Investing in the environment is critical for the health and long-term viability of the communities where we work, which is why we reuse materials that would normally be sent to landfills,” says Mike Langan, Ada plant manager. “We appreciate the support of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality in rapidly permitting this investment, and continue to value our partnership to help us optimize our operation and demonstrate the sustainable performance of the plant.”