Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle:
Sweep the Hooch Event:
For the past several years, Our Atlanta Plant has been involved in the “sweep the Hooch” event where teams comb sections of the Chattahoochee river, collecting and removing liter. This year, Argos removed a total of three piles of trash that weighed just short of 2 tons. Our Atlanta team will send all the tires collected to our Harleyville, SC cement plant to be incinerated in our kiln, that is specially equipped to burn tires. All metal collected will go into our metal recycling and remaining trash will be disposed of properly.
Recycled Gypsum:
The Atlanta Plant’s design made it difficult to use the synthetic gypsum most Argos cement plants customarily use. For years they used a natural gypsum mined in Indiana and Oklahoma. However, this product was expensive and had a large carbon footprint caused by the mining process and long haul to the plant. Argos had the opportunity to partner with Kohler, who manufacturers bathroom and kitchen products. Kohler has a goal to be landfill free and their manufacturing process in South Carolina, creates a waste stream of the molds used to make their fixtures. After about 100 fixtures the molds no longer wick water from the clay fixtures and become a waste. The used molds have the same chemical compounds as synthetic gypsum but are coarse and work well in the Atlanta Plant. A partnership was formed and Kohler gives us their waste stream making their goal more achievable. Argos pays transportation cost for the gypsum, which is half the price as natural gypsum and provides a credit carbon footprint credit towards our Type III cement.
Safety
The Atlanta Plant has an amazing safety record with over 4,620 days without a Lost Time Accident. The plant takes great pride in its stellar MSHA inspection record, achieving multiple inspections in a row without a citation. This accomplishment is almost unheard of in the cement industry. The Atlanta Plant has been recognized by the Portland Cement Association three times in the last 10 years, being awarded the President’s Safety Award in 2012, 2015, and in 2019.
Nature and Wildlife
WHC Certifications:
The Eastern Bluebird program at the Argos Atlanta Cement plant is recognized as meeting the strict requirements of WHC Conservation Certification. Through their hard work, they have transformed the land our facility operates on into a thriving ecosystem where now hundreds of species grow, thrive, and reproduce.
In the past, the Eastern Bluebird population in the United States declined seriously in many areas with loss of habitat and loss of nesting sites. However, thanks to newly formed habitats like our Atlanta Cement plant and others like it, the population has been steadily increasing again.
Community Projects
Our Atlanta Team is heavily involved in their local community!
Collins Food Bank:
Our Argos Atlanta Cement Plant & Ready Mix plant in Smyrna, Georgia, were able to come together and donate and help build a 12’X16′ concrete slab that will serve as a patio area for The Collins Food Pantry. This new patio area will be used to create a Garden Market that will help provide fresh vegetables and fruits for the Atlanta Community!
Soaring Owls Foundation:
Our Atlanta team, through the Soaring Owls foundation, supports Bolton Academy, a local elementary school. In addition to annual donations, the team hosts an annual third grade field trip to teach students about rocks, minerals, cement manufacturing and concrete.
Riverwalk Atlanta:
The Atlanta Plant has been partnered with Riverwalk Atlanta for the past 10 years. In 2012 the plant hosted Riverfest, a Music and Arts festival to raise money for the Riverwalk park project. In addition, our cement team allows them to meet every month and when they need to have additional meetings at our Training Center
