Displaying items by tag: circular economy
US: St Marys Cement won three national awards at the Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Awards 2023. The producer won the awards for supplying its slag cement for the construction of Wixom Assembly Park in Wixom, Michigan; of 333 North Water in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and of Excellerate Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisconsin.
UK: Heidelberg Materials UK has opened a new circular materials hub at its Appleford depot in Oxfordshire. The site will recycle construction waste for use in low-CO2 building materials. The move advances the company’s strategy to conserve natural materials and support the circular economy.
Recycling managing director James Whitelaw said “Recycling, reusing and reducing the use of primary raw materials is crucial to reaching net zero. Our network of recycling hubs will allow us to provide the most sustainable products to our customers through circularity and innovation to enable building more with less.”
India: Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has obtained a 20-year patent for its Laterite-Based Concrete Block. The company produces the block using up to 100% construction and demolition materials. Norway-based research organisation SINTEF was technical partner for the development. GWMC plans to licence the technology to producers.
GWMC said "This invention will lead to a significantly cleaner local environment, as construction and demolition materials are a major waste stream in Goa. The groundwater resources in Goa will also have a higher protection against unwanted leaching."
Heidelberg Materials and Viuda de Sainz to launch recycled aggregates plant in Güeñes
09 February 2024Spain: Heidelberg Materials and construction firm Viuda de Sainz plan to open a construction and demolition waste (CDW) recycling and slag grinding plant in Güeñes, Basque Country. The plant, called Harri Green, will be situated in Heidelberg Materials' existing Zaramillo limestone quarry. It processing capacities will be 140,000t/yr CDW and 20,000t/yr steel slag, with which it will produce aggregates. The cost of the plant is Euro2m.
Partanna to build four new carbon negative binder plants
30 January 2024Middle East/North America: Climate tech start-up Partanna has announced plans for four new plants to produce its carbon negative binder. The plants will be located in the Bahamas, the US and the Gulf region.
Partanna said that the development demonstrates its growing momentum as a construction sector disruptor, offering a sustainable, cost-comparable alternative to cement for users of concrete.
Neustark announces upcoming rapid expansion in Europe
19 January 2024Switzerland: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment developer and supplier Neustark says it plans to more than double the number of its CO2 storage sites in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK to 34 from 14. Neustark’s process turns mineralised captured CO2 and existing mineral waste streams into useful limestone. Building materials producers lease Neustark’s storage sites to produce reduced-CO2 alternatives such as recycled concrete. The sites currently have a total storage capacity of 5000t. Existing customers include Holcim.
Neustark CEO Johannes Tiefenthaler said “Neustark is scaling up rapidly, and we’re well on track to achieve our aim of permanently removing 1Mt of CO₂ by 2030. Our global goal is a series of reliable, region-specific CCS facilities that can be replicated anywhere, offering immediate sustainability benefits to local supply chains.”
Holcim acquires majority stake in Arterpref
12 January 2024Spain: Switzerland-based Holcim has acquired a majority stake in precast concrete systems producer Arterpref. Holcim says that Artepref’s smart design systems combined with its own range of low-carbon and circular solutions will help Spain’s fast-growing construction sector to build better with less.
Holcim’s Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said “Fully in line with our strategy, this expands our range of innovative and sustainable solutions in high-growth markets.”
Czech Republic: Cemex Czech Republic has successfully commissioned its Prague-Libuš ready-mix concrete batching plant in Prague, following an upgrade. The upgraded plant can now process five types of cements and admixtures, including Cemex’s Vertua reduced-CO2 concretes and recycled aggregates. Cemex Czech Republic has installed two recycled aggregates production plants at the site to process residual concrete.
Cemex’s vice president materials, Central Europe, Ruediger Kuhn said “Our plant in Libuš forms an important part of our operation in the Czech republic, thanks to its interesting location in the wider centre of the capital and in the immediate vicinity of the planned construction of the Prague Metro D line. We are therefore very pleased to have this site reopened following a considerable investment.” He added “The development at this site confirms Cemex’s determination to offer its customers superior quality products while also meeting its sustainability objectives, supporting the circular economy and reducing emissions wherever possible.”
UAE: Saint-Gobain Weber has installed a new system at its Abu Dhabi mortars plant to recover dust from its crusher and re-inject it into the plant’s raw materials stream. This is part of a package of upgrades to lower the Abu Dhabi plant’s consumption of virgin materials, which also reduced its generation of waste by 4380t/yr between 2019 and 2023. The L’Usine Nouvelle newspaper has reported that other investments included the electrification of the plant’s forklift fleet.
Saint-Gobain reduced its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 14%, its non-recycled waste by 78% and its water footprint by 10% in the Middle East between 2017 and 2023.
CarbiCrete secures steel slag supply from Lafarge Canada
15 December 2023Canada: Carbon-negative concrete producer CarbiCrete has signed a deal with Holcim subsidiary Lafarge Canada. Under the deal, Lafarge Canada will process steel slag at its St. Constant cement plant in Québec for use as an ingredient in CarbiCrete’s CO2-cured cement-free concrete.
CarbiCrete partner Patio Drummond produces carbon-negative concrete blocks using CarbiCrete’s technology at its Drummondville concrete block plant in Québec. The company is on a drive to double the production of CarbiCrete blocks. It first partnered with CarbiCrete during trial production of its material in 2018.
Lafarge Canada vice-president of cement Andrew Stewart said “We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and leading the way in sustainable construction. Our partnership with CarbiCrete is a testament to our dedication to offering sustainable solutions and actively participating in the circular economy.”
CarbiCrete CEO Chris Stern said “Collaborating with Lafarge allows us to leverage long-established infrastructure and years of expertise in processing steel-related by-products. This enables us to make an immediate climate impact as we scale the deployment of our technology which reduces embodied carbon in concrete by both avoiding emissions and removing carbon through mineralisation.” Regarding the on-going scale-up of production at Patio Drummond’s Drummondville plant, Stern said “Increased production of our carbon-negative blocks brings us closer to our common goal of decarbonising production of the world’s most consumed man-made substance.”