Concrete Plants

When was the last time you visited a plant where they create concrete products?  First of all, concrete production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas / CO2 emissions.  It is estimated that the manufacturing of concrete is responsible for up to 7-10% of all CO2 emissions worldwide.  So, when you visit a concrete plant and discover that not only is the process polluting the atmosphere, but that there is a tremendous amount of waste inherent to this process...well, this is upsetting.  The pictures below show some of the manufacturing processes involved, such as the molds which are used in this case to make culverts and other roadwork accoutrements.  Each mold is designed so that when the piece is finished there is a large leftover portion that is carefully broken away.  Some of these pieces are actually quite pretty, such as the doughnut shaped pieces in the last picture.  I asked the plant foreman if they had found a use for all these leftover pieces, and he responded that they were simply dumped in the rear of the plant.  I saw the pile of discarded pieces, and it was huge.  They are apparently too heavy to be moved, the plant doesn't see the use in spending money to truck them off somewhere for re-use.  I would love to see these pieces used as stepping stones (with planted centers), or perhaps they could be stacked to form retaining walls. The less visually appealing pieces could be used for construction fill material.   Or, better yet, perhaps an engineer could devise a method of creating these concrete forms with molds that did not waste any leftover concrete.