World's First Climate-Neutral Ceramic Plant

Duravit is taking a quantum leap towards a sustainable future: the world's first climate-neutral ceramic production facility is being built at the Matane site in the Canadian province of Québec. Starting at the end of 2025, up to 450,000 ceramic parts per year are to be produced in a 35,000 square meter factory. Therefore, Duravit becomes a pioneer for sustainable sanitary industry.

Informations

Current News

_08/15/2024
Duravit Canada's CEO has arrivedThe former production manager of the Duravit plants in Hornberg and Bischwiller, Christian Gilles, is taking over the management of the new climate-neutral production facility in Canada.

_06/21/2024
Progress continues!The new production facility in Matane/Québec is taking shape. One year after the ground-breaking ceremony, the outlines of the 35,000 m² building are emerging. This brings the start of production closer and closer. Duravit AG is currently planning to put the climate-neutral ceramics plant into operation for the first time in the third quarter of 2025. Full production capacity is expected in 2027.

_09/05/2023
Groundbreaking in MataneDuravit AG is taking a quantum leap towards a sustainable future: the world's first climate-neutral ceramic production facility, which is powered by 99.6 percent hydropower, is being built at Matane in the Canadian province of Québec.Read more ➔

How we achieve

Sustainability

For the firing process, Duravit's new ceramic plant will use the world's first electric roller kiln fuelled by hydropower. This will save over 8,500 tons of CO₂ per year compared to a conventional gas kiln - at full capacity. The renewably generated electricity originates from the hydroelectric power plants of the Canadian utility Hydro-Québec. In addition, all raw materials are sourced directly on-site in Canada as well as from the USA, which means short transport distances and sustainable logistics.

Sustainable innovations for our

Economics

Duravit invests large sums in sustainable innovations. In this new production facility, everything is highly automated and follows the principles of Industry 4.0. The plant plays a crucial role in the company's "local-for-local" strategy, as the ceramic parts produced here are destined for the North American market. On-site logistics also reduce CO₂ emissions by a total of 1,500 tons per year compared to importing the goods from Europe.

How we live up to our

Social Responsibility

With the construction of this ceramic plant, Duravit is creating 240 jobs for skilled workers and, as a client for various suppliers, will ensure an economic upswing in the region."We are very proud to act as a pioneer in the design of a sustainable sanitary industry and to provide answers to the challenges of climate change. In doing so, we are setting standards for innovative solutions in an industry characterized by high energy consumption. At the same time, the new plant is a milestone on our path to climate neutrality in 2045." says Stephan Tahy, CEO of Duravit.

FAQ

The new site in Matane is a seamless match for our “local-for-local” strategy. Its location directly on the St. Lawrence River guarantees straightforward logistics and goods transport. This means we can significantly lower logistics overheads as well as reducing the amount of energy we use from fossil-fuel sources.

Compared with importing our products from Europe, we anticipate an annual reduction of our carbon emissions of 1,500 tons in the North American market. Add the benefits from the electric kiln and we stand to reduce our potential carbon emissions by just under 10,000 tons per year.

The first spades went into the ground in July 2023. Our ambitious goal is for production to be up and running by the third quarter of 2025, so after around two years. We’re expecting full manufacturing capacity to be reached as soon as 2027.

The innovative centerpiece of the climate-neutral manufacturing site at Matane is the electric ceramic roller kiln that defines a new industry standard in the sector. The kiln is operated exclusively using renewably generated electricity from the Canadian energy supplier Hydro-Québec’s hydro-electric power plants. The carbon savings from the electric ceramic roller kiln operating at full production capacity are around 8,500 tons per year compared to a conventional gas kiln.

In future it will be possible to fire up to 600 ceramic toilets per day at a temperature of approx. 1,260°C, over a length of around 100 meters. The entire firing process takes around 16 hours. The circulating air is recycled and used to heat the drying chambers and casting shop.

The technology for the first electric ceramic roller kiln for the ceramic industry was developed by the world’s leading industrial kiln manufacturer Riedhammer from Nuremberg, a subsidiary of the multinational SACMI group, which is headquartered in Imola, Italy.

We source clay from the greater Chicago area, while the feldspar is mined in Kingston/Canada. The quartz needed for the production process comes from the United Kingdom, as does the kaolin.

The favorable logistical location of the site directly at the St. Lawrence river has a range of positive benefits. Thanks to the ports, it is not only easier to deliver raw materials, but also to transport goods to the main sales markets on America’s East Coast and in the Chicago metropolitan region.

The new site has the world’s first electric ceramic roller kiln. Instead of natural gas, which is standard in energy-intensive ceramic manufacture, the innovative production line exclusively works with electricity produced sustainably from hydroelectric power. At full capacity, this will generate carbon savings of around 8,500 tons per year.

To learn more about our ongoing efforts on sustainability projects around the world, read our latest Sustainability Report 2023.

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