Lafarge and TransAlta invest in low-carbon concrete

EDMONTON — Lafarge Canada and TransAlta Corporation are working together to produce low-carbon concrete from waste.

The partnership will repurpose landfilled fly ash, waste produced from TransAlta’s coal-fired electricity operations near Edmonton, states a news release.

The coal-fired operations ended in 2021 and the ash will be used to replace cement in concrete manufacturing.

Geocycle, a Canadian subsidiary of Lafarge, will be part of the project as they have experience managing fly ash in the U.S., adds the release.

The fly ash needs to go through a beneficiation process before being used in concrete production. The Ash-TEK Ponded Ash Beneficiation System will be deployed by Lafarge to ensure it meets quality requirements.

“Landfilled fly ash sometimes has too much carbon, which affects how much air there is in the concrete. Once we can treat and separate that carbon then the fly ash is ready to be used (up to 25 per cent standard replacement) in place of cement,” Sophie Wu, head of Geocycle in North America, said in the release.

The Government of Alberta awarded $15 million to Lafarge for the project in 2021.