Displaying items by tag: sustainability

India: Finland-based Betolar introduced its AI-based service for production of reduced-CO₂ concrete using its Geoprime additive at World of Concrete India 2023 on 18 October 2023. Betolar designs recipes and provides a liquid chemical dosing system and post-production services to Geoprime users. Dow Jones Institutional News reports that Betolar has concluded strategic tie-ups in South and West India, and is ‘actively planning’ further expansion.

Managing director Abhishek Bhattacharya said "Interest in our solution is growing fast in India and we have successfully demonstrated that the twin goal of sustainability and performance can be achieved remarkably faster with Betolar’s Geoprime solution.”

EU/UK: EUROSLAG says that the use of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in cement production in the EU and UK between 2000 and 2022 has generated a cumulative reduction in CO₂ emissions of 408Mt. GGBFS replaced 716Mt-worth of raw materials over the period.

EUROSLAG Chair Thomas Reiche said "Resource conservation through secondary raw materials, especially in the construction sector, and lower emissions of climate-damaging CO₂, are of outstanding ecological and economic importance. The use of ferrous slags makes an important contribution to this. EUROSLAG is working multilaterally to master the enormous challenges in the coming years, above all the transformation of the steel industry, through research and adjustments to national and European regulations.”

US: Heidelberg Materials North America and Levy Group of Companies signed a granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) supply contract on 9 August 2023. Under the contract, Levy Group of Companies will supply Heidelberg Materials North America with 400,000t/yr of GBFS for use in its slag cement production. Deliveries will begin in early 2024. Heidelberg Materials North America says that it has upgraded its Speed cement plant in Indiana to increase the efficiency with which it grinds GBFS. Following the inauguration of its nearby 2.4Mt/yr Mitchell cement plant in June 2023, Heidelberg Materials North America plans to transition the 1Mt/yr to 100% speciality and slag cement production. Levy Group of Companies will supply the GBFS from steel industry sites in the Midwest Region.

Heidelberg Materials Midwest US president Axel Conrads said “Our agreement with the Levy Group of Companies to secure a consistent supply of slag granules will help us accelerate the transition of the Speed plant to slag cement production and better meet the increasing demand for more sustainable cement products in the growing Midwest market.”

Denmark: Finland-based Betolar has supplied its Geoprime additive for its maiden construction project in Denmark. Its customer IBF used the additive to produce low-cement paving stones for a 1.5 hectare expansion to the lorry park at the Port of Aalborg. The stones consisted of an 84mm-thick cement-free base made of Geoprime material, with a 6mm-thick cement-based concrete top. The supplier said that the use of Geoprime reduced the project's cement consumption by 90%. This more than halved the carbon footprint of the work.

Betolar's chief commercial officer Ville Voipio said "This shows that the circular economy solution we have developed, which utilises industrial side streams, also works in large construction projects. We have been doing development work with IBF for a long time. Now there is a product on the Danish market that radically cuts emissions compared to traditional products."

Denmark is committed to eliminating 70% of its annual CO₂ emissions between 2020 and 2030.

Finland: Betolar has signed a cooperation agreement with concrete producer Consolis Parma to develop reduced-CO₂ hollow concrete slabs. The development process will implement Betolar's Geoprime binder into Consolis Parma's concrete production. Consolis Parma is committed to halving its CO₂ emissions between 2021 and 2035.

Consolis Parma's Technology Director Juha Rämö said “The use of alternative new binder combinations and additives that ensure the efficiency of the manufacturing process are key factors in achieving our climate goals. We are actively seeking new channels to address these challenges. The cooperation with Betolar is an important new partnership for us."

Europe/India: Finland-based Betolar has secured EU-wide and Indian patents for a new waste-based alternative concrete produced without cement and capable of storing energy. Betolar said that the material, which is already patented in Finland, is especially suited for use in renewable energy infrastructure, where it can provide a storage solution for dealing with short-term peaks. Chief commercial officer Ville Voipio said that the company will now seek to establish a partnership for commercialisation of its new alternative building material.

Betolar produces and markets the Geoprime additive used to produce cement-free concrete from supplementary cementitious materials, including ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), in regions that include India and the EU.

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has inaugurated the Port Canaveral slag cement plant and terminal in Florida, following an expansion. MENAFN News has reported that the producer invested US$24m in the installation of a new roller press at the facility.

Heidelberg Materials North America said "Heidelberg Materials' investment in the Port Canaveral slag cement facility is reflective of our commitment to supporting sustainable and resilient construction projects in the state of Florida and throughout the country. It is also aligned with our goal to significantly reduce our carbon footprint by 2030 and another milestone in our overall strategy to grow our portfolio of more sustainable products, technologies and customer-focused solutions on the path to Net Zero."

Germany: Building materials research institute FEhS-Institute says that cement producers used 7.9Mt of German ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in cement production in 2022. This corresponds to 71% of the 11.1Mt of slag produced by the domestic iron and steel industries during the year. Other applications for the slag included aggregates production (3.1Mt - 28%) and internal recycling at the refinery (500,000t - 4.5%).

Managing director Thomas Reiche said "Unlike recycled materials, iron mill slags are already high-quality and climate-friendly secondary raw materials in their 'first life.' For decades they have made an important contribution to a sustainable recycling economy in Germany. To ensure that this can continue in the future after the transformation of the steel industry, we have been researching new slags together with our partners since 2013 - for example, with the Direct Reduction Of Iron Ore Electric Furnace Slag and Save CO2 projects to develop Blast Furnace Slag 2.0."

France: Cemex France and Ecocem have signed a deal to collaborate on the development of reduced-CO₂ concrete development at 10 Cemex France ready-mix concrete batching plants. The partnership will explore methods that include the use of supplementary cementitious materials in place of clinker. Cemex hopes that the collaboration will help to realise its goal of a 55% CO₂ emissions reduction across its European operations by 2030.

Cemex Western Europe vice president materials and Cemex France president Michel Andre said “Cemex continues to reinforce its commitment to advancing the sustainability agenda with the announcement of this extended partnership with Ecocem. We know that if we are to achieve our global ambition of operating as a net-zero business by 2050 we must prioritise exploring innovation and new technologies with like-minded companies who share our dedication to leading the industry’s transition to a lower carbon and circular economy.”

UK: Contractors poured 736m³ of cement-free concrete in an 11-hour continuous pour at the Hurst substation tunnel drive shaft of the London Power Tunnels project on 11 May 2023. Construction Index News has reported that Capital Concrete supplied the concrete. It uses a formula developed by Earth Friendly Concrete to replace 100% of cement with fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in the presence of an activator and admix solution. The supplier said that the concrete will reduce CO₂ emissions by 64% compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC), corresponding to 111kg/m³ of concrete.