Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Our Sarnia plant is committed to upholding the highest standards in safety, health and environmental (SH&E) practices, while also striving to make a positive and lasting impact in our local community.

Sarnia, Ontario, Canada facility

Built in 1953, our plant houses three manufacturing units that produce carbon blacks for elastomer reinforcement for our North American customers. With more than 100 employees, we are active in our community and participate in a variety of charitable initiatives throughout the year.

The safety of our employees, contractors, visitors and local community members is always our top priority. We participate in the Drive to Zero initiative, which reflects our goal of achieving zero recordable injuries worldwide.

Industry Outreach and Responsibility

Cabot is a regular supporter/participant in a number of local committees in Sarnia including:

Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce – an organization supporting Sarnia Lambton’s business community
Clean Air Sarnia & Area (CASA) – provides information from Sarnia’s air monitoring network
Bluewater Association of Safety, Environment and Sustainability (BASES) – an umbrella organization that works with the organizations below to encourage information exchange between industry and the community
- Sarnia-Lambton Environmental Association (SLEA) – monitors environmental conditions
- Sarnia-Lambton Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) – coordinates response to safety related issues
- Industrial Education Cooperative (IEC) – a unique partnership of experts from education, labour, contractors, and industry to improve safety performance in our community. Through the Sarnia-Lambton Safety Partnership Model, the organization enables an injury-free culture by identifying and implementing opportunities to improve safety performance and efficiencies by collaborating in the development of safety standards and programs.
Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) – shares members’ stories with decision-makers at the federal and provincial levels to help shape public policy that supports innovation, investment, sustainability, jobs, and the environment
Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) – national trade association that strengthens and protects the reputation and competitiveness of the Canadian tire and rubber industry, with focus on government relations, sustainability, public education, industry data and networking
Lambton College Program Advisory Committees – a leader in education and applied research with a mission to ensure student and community success

Caring For Our People and Communities

Local Support

Cabot Canada employees present Sarnia-Lambton United Way Resource Development Manager Rebecca Brander (far right) with their contribution to this year's campaign. Photo courtesy of United Way of Sarnia Lambton Facebook.

Cabot's Sustainability Goals

Sustainability is important to us. Through our commitment to operate responsibly, conserve resources and develop innovative performance materials, we will be relentless in our pursuit of solutions to the sustainability challenges of our customers, our communities and our world.

Cabot’s Sustainability Goals look at sustainability through three lens – customers, communities and the planet.

For more information see the "Our Sustainability Commitment" video.

What Is Carbon Black?

Cabot Sarnia is a facility that manufactures carbon black. The use of carbon black dates back to prehistoric times including cave wall dwellings and objects from ancient Egypt.

Carbon black for rubber reinforcement was discovered in England in the early 1900s. It is currently one of the top 50 industrial chemicals and is used in tire rubber, plastics, inks, toners etc. The use of carbon black extends the life of rubber products and reduces our use of natural resources. Cabot is an important player in the circular economy helping industries reduce their waste and their impact on the environment.

Our Sarnia facility is able to use waste products from our industrial neighbours as input to our carbon black manufacturing process.

IMPROVEMENTS AT THE SARNIA FACILITY

Cabot will be making improvements to its Sarnia facility to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and greenhouse gases. Both SO₂ and greenhouse gases are by-products of processes that refine carbon material. These gases are emitted from various industries including, petroleum refineries, cement manufacturing and carbon black manufacturing.

In 2023, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change will be phasing in new SO₂ air quality criteria to further improve air quality. Cabot is working on implementing its Sustainability Goals which includes targets for reducing these emissions in addition to complying with the new SO₂ criteria.

Improvements at the Sarnia facility will specifically address the company’s Sustainability Goals related to:

Engaging with and contributing to the local community
Reducing emissions (i.e. greenhouse gas, SO₂)
Reducing water and energy use and eliminating manufacturing waste
Being environmentally compliant at our facilities
Investing in capital and technology projects that support our sustainable goals

Responsible Care®

Proud member of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada's Responsible Care® Commitment.

Learn more

Working with the Sarnia Community

Over the coming months Cabot will be meeting with the Sarnia community and providing more information on our plans for improvements to do our part to reduce our environmental footprint and improve local air quality.

If you have questions please contact:

Braam Pretorius, Facility General Manager
Cabot Canada Ltd.
800 Tashmoo Avenue
Sarnia, Ontario
N7T 7N4

braam.pretorius@cabotcorp.com
PHONE: +1 519 336 2261

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