10 | T T Richard Loader Technology drives reduced emissions Golden Bay Cement REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT BDX DELIVER INTEGRATED ENGINEERING, MAINTENANCE AND CONTRACTING SOLUTIONS FOR NORTHLAND. BDX GROUP ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT GOLDEN BAY CEMENT WITH SPECIALIST ENGINEERING AND FABRICATION SERVICES ENGINEERING | CIVIL CONTRACTING | MAINTENANCE | MECHANICS KEEN TO WORK WITH BDX FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT? +64 9 430 2126 | info@bdx.nz This is the story about an iconic Kiwi company and a major contributor to New Zealand’s construction industry and who over the last two decades has invested millions of dollars in the pursuit of reducing its carbon emissions through innovative technology. Operating for more than a century, Golden Bay (GB) is a world class cement manufacturing plant based in Portland Whangarei and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Drawing on the relationship with sister companies Winstone Aggregates and Firth Concrete, GB is New Zealand’s sole remaining fully integrated cement manufacturer and the country’s largest supplier. T T to page 12 While demand driven, GB has capacity to manufacture 960,000 tonnes of cement per annum, the vast majority of which is used domestically, and holds approximately 60% market share. “Golden Bay provides New Zealand’s lowest carbon GP cement, which is fully manufactured in New Zealand,” says Kelly Stevens, GB’s Manufacturing Manager. “Golden Bay has made significant progress in reducing carbon emissions with a 6% reduction since 2018 and is on track to achieve its commitment of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030. We are currently running at 699 kilograms of embodied carbon per tonne of cement, whereas the importers are around 900 kilograms plus per tonne of cement.” For Golden Bay, continually improving the sustainability of their business is core to staying operational and a strategic move to compete with imported cement. In 2020 GB completed a significant upgrade to its Portland cement manufacturing plant that enabled it to use 30% chipped tyres as an alternative to coal as an energy source. While a shortage of used tyres has limited the plants consumption of approximately “We are currently running at 699 kilograms of embodied carbon per tonne of cement, whereas the importers are around 900 kilograms plus per tonne of cement.” 20,000 tonnes a year, the upgrade has capacity for 30,000 tonnes (3.1 million shredded waste tyres), and the ability to reduce coal use by up to 50%, reduce iron sand use by 5,000 tonnes and reduce carbon emissions by around 13,000 tonnes each year. “We can also take approximately 80,000 tonnes of treated timber as a coal substitution,” says Kelly. “That’s predominantly made up of treated timber that has traditionally gone to landfill, that we are sourcing from waste companies. “So, at the moment when we run that 50% substitution for coal, we are effectively removing 100,000 tonnes of tyres and treated timber that would normally be going to landfill, and which no one else in New Zealand can do anything with.
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