Saint-Gobain pursues ambitious sustainability goals
Saint-Gobain North America, through its building materials subsidiary CertainTeed Roofing, has achieved a 49 percent reduction in landfill waste over the past year at its Shreveport site. The reduction was possible thanks to a new recycling area at the facility. By taking steps in the design to segregate waste materials and mitigate cross-contamination, the facility has been able to increase its recycling scope and lower the amount of materials ending up in landfills.
The project, which was honored as a top sustainability initiative for Saint-Gobain North America in 2023, is part of the company’s ambitious environmental sustainability goals, such as achieving zero waste-to-landfill across all Saint-Gobain locations.
The Shreveport plant, which has been in operation for nearly a century, took a series of small steps that significantly reduced its environmental footprint. These steps included building containment areas made of steel reclaimed from on-site demolition projects to ensure waste could be properly separated and contained for recycling.
“As leaders in light and sustainable construction, reducing our environmental footprint is a core part of our strategy. This project to reduce landfill waste can be replicated at other sites,” said Carmen Bodden, president of CertainTeed Roofing. “Congratulations to Shannan McKinnon and the entire Shreveport team for demonstrating how we Make the World a Better Home.”
This project follows several other actions taken by the company to solidify its commitment towards sustainability:
- In October, Saint-Gobain announced CarbonLow, a new wallboard line that will contain up to 60 percent less embodied carbon. The line will be produced starting in 2025 from CertainTeed Canada’s facility in Montreal, which will be North America’s first zero-carbon (scopes 1 and 2) wallboard facility.
- Also in October, Saint-Gobain launched RenuCore, technology that enables the recycling of asphalt shingles to be reused in hot mix asphalt paving.
- In September, the company’s Ceramics division achieved net-zero manufacturing at its Surface Conditioning facility in Anaheim, Calif.
- In August, Saint-Gobain enhanced operational practices at its glass mat plant in Charleston, S.C., saving over 4,500 MWh of energy.
- In July, Saint-Gobain announced that it will save over 10 million gallons of water per year through the installation of smart water submetering systems and other equipment upgrades at its CertainTeed Siding facility in Jackson, Mich.
- In April, Saint-Gobain achieved Core Living Building Ready designation from the International Living Future Institute for its CertainTeed Innovation Center in Malvern, Pa.
- In March, Saint-Gobain announced that its CertainTeed Siding business had reduced manufacturing related emissions by 96 percent at three U.S. facilities.
- In February, Saint-Gobain completed the installation of a heat recovery system at its gypsum facility in Vancouver, B.C., which will lead to a 15 percent reduction in Scope 1 carbon emissions.
