Saint-Gobain North America, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed Canada, Inc., announced today that it has surpassed one million tonnes of recycled gypsum being returned to production at its facility in Delta (Vancouver), British Columbia. This significant milestone, which is the equivalent of enough gypsum wallboard for nearly 250,000 homes in the province, underscores the company’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint.

In recognition of this achievement, the company today hosted a celebration event at the Vancouver plant, which featured remarks from CertainTeed Canada CEO Julie Bonamy Racine, Vancouver Plant Manager Richard Sebastianelli, New West Gypsum Recycling Vice President Richard McCamley, and a video greeting from British Columbia Premier David Eby.  

The accomplishment comes as Saint-Gobain continues to roll out its global Grow and Impact strategy, which includes reducing waste and increasing the circularity of raw materials in its production processes, allowing Saint-Gobain to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. In addition, this milestone highlights the importance of public policy focused on sustainability and was enabled by provincial and municipal government efforts to reduce landfill waste and promote circular economy efforts in British Columbia.  

The Vancouver facility, which began operations in 1975 and is the only gypsum wallboard manufacturing facility in British Columbia, achieved this milestone in collaboration with New West Gypsum Recycling, a global company with operations in New Westminster, British Columbia. New West receives wallboard waste from both CertainTeed and other sources in the province, and through patented technology, is able to pulverize the gypsum core and remove the backing paper, leaving recycled gypsum ready for use. This recycled gypsum is then transported to CertainTeed Vancouver where it is again used in production.   

“Surpassing 1,000,000 tonnes of recycled gypsum returned to production is an important milestone, which demonstrates Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Canada’s commitment to sustainability and minimizing our environmental footprint,” said Julie Bonamy, CEO of CertainTeed Canada. “Thank you to the provincial government of British Columbia and New West Recycling for your important partnerships and congratulations to our entire Vancouver team for your hard work to make this accomplishment a reality.”     

“Recycling drywall will help us build the homes our growing province needs, while moving B.C. forward towards a cleaner, better future,” said Premier David Eby. “We all must do what we can to reduce our environmental footprint. Congratulations to all involved in achieving this recycling milestone.” 

“All of us at New West Gypsum Recycling congratulate CertainTeed Canada on their recycling milestone in Vancouver and we are proud of the part we played to make this a reality,” said Gwen McCamley, President of New West Gypsum Recycling. “As an infinite re-use material, it is our job to ensure no gypsum in British Columbia makes its way to landfill, and our partnership with CertainTeed is integral to that mission.”  

Today’s announcement follows several other recent actions taken by the company in Canada to solidify its commitment towards sustainability. In 2022, CertainTeed Canada installed heat recovery technology at the same plant in Vancouver, which improved the energy efficiency of the facility and reduced the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions by 10%. Additionally, in June 2022, Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed Canada announced upgrades to equipment at its gypsum facility in Montreal, which will transition the plant away from fossil fuels to solely being powered by renewable electricity and make it the first zero-carbon wallboard plant in North America.     

With over 145 manufacturing locations in Canada and the United States, every current and future member of the company’s team plays a vital role in achieving its sustainability goals. A current list of job openings at all Saint-Gobain locations, including throughout Canada, can be found on the company’s careers website.    

About CertainTeed

Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed has helped shape the building products industry for more than 115 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm’s slogan “Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed,” inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed is a leading North American brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, solar, fence, railing, trim, insulation, drywall and ceilings, with more than 70 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. www.certainteed.ca    

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.      

€51.2 billion in sales in 2022       

168,000 employees, located in 75 countries       

Committed to achieving Carbon Neutrality by 2050   

Media Contact:

Saint-Gobain in North America:
Peter Clark
Saint-Gobain Corporate Communications
Media@saint-gobain.com

For more details on Saint-Gobain, visit http://www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain.