US: Carbon Built’s proprietary technology for the production of reduced-CO₂ concrete blocks won awards across three categories at the Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards 2023. The product won the Circular Design, Materials and Sustainability prizes. Carbon Built’s technology enables existing concrete block plants to use common alternative raw materials to produce blocks with 70 – 100% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement-based blocks.

Spain: Topcret has added to two new products to its decorative microcement coatings range. BabaxEco and EcoCemento both comprise cement, fine sand, polymers and pigments. Topcret was the first microcement coatings producer to obtain environmental product declarations (EPDs) for its products.

US: Block-Lite plans to install a system to cure concrete blocks using direct air capture (DAC)-sourced CO₂ at its Flagstaff, Arizona, concrete block plant. The upgrade will implement CarbonBuilt’s low-CO₂ concrete production technology and AirCapture’s modular DAC technology, across five or six capture units. Direct air capture will thus remove 500 – 600t/yr of CO₂ from the atmosphere, while process changes will reduce CO₂ emissions from the Flagstaff plant by over 2000t/yr. The project has attracted fundraising from the 4 Corners Carbon Coalition (4CCC), with a goal of US$50,000. The Arizon Daily Sun newspaper has reported that Block-Lite plans to supply its first shipment of low-CO₂ blocks to a 50-home development by Habitat for Humanity in Flagstaff.

Tajikistan: Shimsho has commissioned its new 15,500t/yr Darvoz dry construction mixes plant in Durobak. The government of Tajikistan says that the plant is equipped with Chinese technology, and uses locally mined calcite, cement, lime and gypsum in its dry construction mixes production. It will sell the mixes in 20, 25 and 30kg bags. It will directly employ 25 local people.