SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc. and Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc., business units of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq: USCR ), announced that they have been awarded Green-Star Certification from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) for a total of 17 newly certified plants.
Central Concrete Co. Inc. certifies all its plant operations
On December 16, 2013, Central Concrete was awarded Green-Star Certification for all ten of its permanent plant locations, all located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Central Concrete also operates an additional ready-mix plant, acquired in October 2012 from Bode Concrete, which was the first ready-mix plant in California to receive the NRMCA Green-Star Certification. That award was issued on December 23, 2008. As a result, Central Concrete has completed certification for its entire set of permanent plant operations, totaling 11 plants.
Seven plants operated by Eastern Concrete Materials are first in New Jersey, as well as the New York City area, to receive Green-Star Certification
Eastern Concrete Materials' newly certified plants include three locations in New Jersey, three in New York City, and a location in West Nyack, New York. All seven plants earned their certification on January 1, 2014. Eastern Concrete Materials expects to complete certification for its other active plants in New York and New Jersey before year-end.
NRMCA Green-Star Certification Process
NRMCA's Green-Star Program was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an environmental benchmarking and continuous improvement tool that would recognize companies that commit to adhere to the industry's principles of environmental compliance and sustainability.
"Over the years, U.S. Concrete has demonstrated a deep commitment to executing effective sustainability strategies," said Lionel Lemay, senior vice president of sustainability for NRMCA. "This Green-Star Certification is further recognition of their efforts to adopt sound environmental business processes and tools with the aim of continually improving environmental performance."
Working in conjunction with Resource Management Associates, an environmental and sustainability consulting firm, Eastern Concrete Materials and Central Concrete developed and implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on the classic "plan-do-check-act" model in preparation for the Green-Star audit. This comprehensive system has several components, including a commitment to a Program of Continual Improvement, creating a Self-Evaluation Procedure, clearly articulating its Environmental Policy, and conducting a thorough Environmental Training Program, based on the new management system.
"It's an outstanding achievement for a company to undertake an EMS for just one plant — and an even greater accomplishment to earn Green-Star certification," said Doug Ruhlin, founder, Resource Management Associates. "What's especially notable about Eastern Concrete Materials and Central Concrete is that they both accomplished this across multiple plants within a year from initiating the process."
About Central Concrete
Central Concrete Supply Co., Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq: USCR ), has been serving the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 60 years. The company is recognized for engineering higher-performing concrete than traditional concrete while significantly lowering carbon footprints with its low-CO 2 mixes.
Unlike traditional concrete, Central Concrete's standard mixes deliver 50% or greater cement replacement materials, thereby significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the project under construction. Central Concrete is recognized for supplying its low-CO 2 mixes to numerous San Francisco Bay Area signature projects, including the Cathedral of Christ the Light Church, Oakland; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco (world's greenest museum); NASA Ames Sustainability Base, Mountain View (greenest federal building in the U.S.); David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos (largest net-zero private office building in Calif.); the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters (San Francisco's greenest office building); the new San Francisco 49ers Levi's Stadium; and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
With 12 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Concrete offers multiple points of service to meet the diverse operational needs of its customers. For more information, visit www.centralconcrete.com .
About Eastern
Eastern Concrete Materials, Inc., a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc. (Nasdaq: USCR ), has 17 ready-mix plants in New Jersey and New York and is the largest, vertically integrated supplier of ready-mix concrete in the Northern New Jersey-New York City metropolitan area. The company also supplies sand, stone, and gravel from its three quarries in New Jersey to ready-mix, asphalt, government and contractor customers in New Jersey and New York. Eastern's ready-mix product line, built on U.S. Concrete's EF Technology® platform of more sustainable concrete mix designs, includes a suite of proprietary and branded products to reduce the initial and lifecycle carbon footprint of building projects by improving the appearance, productivity and performance of concrete. The company's portfolio of projects includes the area's tallest buildings, best-known monuments and largest roadways and bridges. For more information about Eastern, visit http://www.us-concrete.com/usc_eastern_concrete.asp .
About U.S. Concrete
U.S. Concrete services the construction industry in several major markets in the United States through its two business segments: ready-mixed concrete and aggregate products. The company has 106 fixed and 10 portable ready-mixed concrete plants and seven producing aggregates facilities. During 2012, U.S. Concrete produced approximately 4.8 million cubic yards of ready-mixed concrete and approximately 3.3 million tons of aggregates. For more information on U.S. Concrete, visit www.us-concrete.com .
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these statements and cautions you not to rely unduly on them. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding: the stability of the business; ready-mix backlog; ability to maintain our cost structure and the improvements achieved during our restructuring; ability to maximize liquidity, monitor fixed costs, manage variable costs, control capital spending and monitor working capital usage; and the adequacy of current liquidity. Although U.S. Concrete believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, among other matters: general and regional economic conditions; the level of activity in the construction industry; the ability of U.S. Concrete to complete acquisitions and to effectively integrate the operations of acquired companies; development of adequate management infrastructure; departure of key personnel; access to labor; union disruption; competitive factors; government regulations; exposure to environmental and other liabilities; the cyclical and seasonal nature of U.S. Concrete's business; adverse weather conditions; the availability and pricing of raw materials; the availability of refinancing alternatives; and general risks related to the industry and markets in which U.S. Concrete operates. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those expected. These risks, as well as others, are discussed in greater detail in U.S. Concrete's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including U.S. Concrete's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Company Contacts: Anne Banta Marketing & Communications, Central Concrete O: 831-293-8008/M: 650-400-9673 Andrew Pinkerton Marketing Communications, U.S. Concrete O: 817-835-2621/M: 214-724-9664
