WC131 JulyAugust 2023 - Magazine - Page 4
Pomerleau
Embraces the
Circular Economy
I
n June, Pomerleau, a leader in the Canadian construction
industry, released its first Integrated Report. The report
is a combination of the company’s Activity report and its
Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) report. Last year, the
general contractor outlined its ESG commitments through its
platform Perspective. Pomerleau is now demonstrating how its
objectives are being achieved.
The company’s strategy targets six priorities, including
contributing to the circular economy. To encourage the circularity
of goods and materials and reduce the environmental footprint
of its operations, Pomerleau’s strategy relies on reducing its
resource consumption, and protecting the ecosystems that
generate them as well as reusing, recycling, or reconsidering the
value of existing materials. The general contractor wants to green
its value chain by focusing on accounting for residual materials to
better manage them and integrating circular economy principles
into its procurement processes.
Supporting circular economy aspirations requires a high degree
of adaptability, innovation, and collaboration. To facilitate the
operationalization of Pomerleau’s ESG strategy on its sites and
consolidate its expertise in delivering sustainable projects, the
company brought on a new director and a team of sustainable
construction specialists, including a circular economy specialist.
They are responding to the rapid growth in the number of projects
seeking sustainable certification by deploying low carbon concrete
and circular economy initiatives on project sites and developing
expertise in sustainable construction materials and methods.
To minimize the environmental impact of its operations and to
develop opportunities for circularity, Pomerleau meticulously
takes stock of the residual materials that it produces. This
in-depth exercise has allowed the company to improve the
management of residual materials on sites and to find innovative
solutions to promote recovery.
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In 2022, Pomerleau’s projects generated 148,228 tons of residual
materials (not including soil). The deconstruction of the original
Champlain Bridge alone generated 104,539 tons of residual
materials that year. The general contractor diverted 92% of
residual materials from landfills. Excluding residual materials
generated on the deconstruction of the original Champlain
Bridge, Pomerleau diverted 72% of residual materials from
landfills, a 4% increase compared to 2021. For all the building
projects seeking sustainable certification, this number increases
to 98%, which exceeds the minimum target of 75% required for
LEED certification.
This year, efforts will be focused on developing a traceability
platform to optimize data collection and track the flow of
residual materials generated by Pomerleau’s projects. Circular
economy principles are being integrated into the company’s
procurement processes for goods and materials services. This
platform will build on the foundations of a circularity program
that gives a second life to certain consumable goods on sites,
which has been in place since 2021. This program not only
reduces the consumption of consumable goods but also reduces
the quantities of products that are thrown out and the carbon
footprint associated with their transportation.
All of this is being done alongside Pomerleau’s partners,
who also contribute to the carbon footprints of projects. The
company developed a questionnaire and launched a pilot project
to document its suppliers’ ESG performance, and encourage
them to improve and adopt guiding principles and objectives.
Pomerleau is recording the ESG performance of its strategic
suppliers and will be reporting on their progress in 2026.
Together, Pomerleau and its partners are helping shift industry
standards and promote sustainable practices. n
LEARN MORE ABOUT POMERLEAU HERE
pomerleau.ca
