Feds re-investing $2.2 million into new low-carbon cement project in Ontario

Canada’s federal government has announced the re-investment of up to $2.2 million of recycled industrial pollution pricing revenues to fund what’s being called “a major new emissions reduction project” at St. Marys Cement in St. Marys, Ont.

With this funding, St. Marys Cement Inc. (Canada), which is part of the Votorantim Cimentos group, is installing new specialty cement kiln infrastructure that uses lower-carbon fuels, including discarded plastics, to replace up to 30 per cent of the high-carbon fuels required for the manufacturing process. The technology is said to be able to cut over 39,900 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. As members of Canada’s Net Zero Challenge, St. Marys Cement is implementing their plan to transition their facilities and operations to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Since August 2022, the government said, over 200 businesses across the country have joined the challenge.

The St. Marys Cement project is funded through the industrial pricing system in Ontario and the revenue-return program called the Decarbonization Incentive Program (DIP), which re-invests revenues taken from heavy industry through the price on pollution and puts it toward eligible facilities for energy efficiency and emission-cutting projects. So far, the government said, the industrial pollution pricing program DIP has agreements in place to reinvest nearly $74.3 million into 18 emissions reduction projects in Ontario, resulting in 274 thousand tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions reduced in 2030, with more projects to come.

“This return of proceeds is mobilizing Canada’s heavy industry emitters to contribute funds toward these decarbonization projects, resulting in a total investment of $337 million to further build Canada’s clean economy and create jobs,” government officials said in a July 15 statement.