Cement Americas provides comprehensive coverage of the North and South American cement markets from raw material extraction to delivery and tranportation to end user.
Issue link: https://cement.epubxp.com/i/119488
Cement Association of Canada
President/CEO Addresses Gala
Michael McSweeney, president and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada, advocated at the 2013
Environmental Defence Gala held last month for a collective approach that addresses sustainability challenges, speaks to the industry's commitment and
significant investments to reduce its environmental
footprint, and shares lessons learned thus far on the
path to greater sustainability.
"Some of you will no doubt have noticed that the Cement Association of Canada is increasing its presence
at several of these events – the Pollution Probe Gala,
the WWF Panda Ball, Pembina's unGala, and Lake Ontario WaterKeepers to name a few," said McSweeney
to the gala's audience. "And you may be asking yourselves 'why?' Why would an industry association,
probably relatively unknown to many in this audience,
want visibility with the environmental community?"
McSweeney tied his answer to the gala's theme of renewal. He invited the audience to rediscover concrete.
"[It] is about learning to think about, communicate
and apply sustainability in new ways in our industry.
It's an invitation to learn more about a material that
plays an essential role in everyone's lives and it is the
beginning of a new journey for us as we re-examine,
rediscover and renew our own vision of sustainability
for cement and concrete.
"Although the terms are often used interchangeably,
cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Cement
is the 'glue' that binds sand, gravel and water together to make concrete. And so we are inviting you
to 'rediscover concrete' because concrete is the visible
end-product of the cement value chain and the product you see in roads, bridges, buildings and all manner of infrastructure in our communities."
McSweeney went on to point out that a modern cement plant is 20 percent more energy efficient than a
plant from just a couple of decades ago. He also
notes that the industry is more active in communities
in which cement plants are operational as well as
heavily invested in research and alternative energy
projects.
"Throughout this journey, we've learned many lessons
and we're still learning," said McSweeney. "One of the
most important lessons is that sustainability is a collective challenge one larger than any one sector that
demands collective solutions. It's a journey that will
fail if taken alone. And so our invitation to 'rediscover
concrete' is not just about getting you to think more
about our industry, it's an invitation to work with us
on this shared challenge. We're ready to be proactive
partners."
www.cementamericas.com • Spring 2013 • CEMENT AMERICAS
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