Ireland: Ecocem has secured €4m in research funding as part of the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder Challenges 2024 in order to optimise electric arc furnace (EAF) slag for low-carbon cement production. The four-year programme is funded by Horizon Europe and will explore ways to enhance EAF slag reactivity and its suitability as a supplementary cementitious material without compromising cement durability. The project was submitted to the Pathfinder Challenge 2 call: “Towards Cement and Concrete as a Carbon Sink.”

Corporate development executive director Eoin Condren said “For many years, we have been pioneering the use of a range of slags and cementitious materials to create scalable and durable low-carbon cement. Thanks to this grant, we will continue our groundbreaking work as the steel industry transitions to new manufacturing processes, delivering a viable solution for a new generation of waste from steel.”

UK: Tata Steel plans to install a new electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Port Talbot steel refinery in Wales. Modern Railways News has reported that the upgrade will generate an anticipated 3.5Mt/yr of additional rail freight. The furnace will produce 255,000t/yr of EAF carbon steel slag. Tata Steel reportedly expects to sell the slag for use in roadbuilding, mainly in South East England.

UK: Construction firm John Sisk & Son has successfully concluded its construction of part of the Wembley Park mixed development using concrete produced with Ecocem’s ACT alternative circular cement. The concrete met design specifications for all elements, while reducing embodied CO₂ emissions by 70%. Construction Index News has reported that Capital Concrete and Creagh Concrete also participated in the project, which commanded €594,000 in Innovate UK funding.

UK: Heidelberg Materials UK has secured a new Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its EvoBuild 30% reduced-CO₂ ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) supplementary cementitious material (SCM). Norway-based EPD-Norge supplied the EPD, which confirms the material’s production in line with the European standard EN 15804.

Heidelberg Materials UK said “The company has a safe and secure volume of GGBFS available for supply across the UK for many years to come.”