Displaying items by tag: construction and demolition waste
Netherlands: EMC Cement and HES International plan to build a 1.2Mt/yr plant in Amsterdam to produce an alternative cement that contains 70% volcanic ash. The cement will also include recycled concrete fines. Production will be carbon neutral and consume 90% less energy than traditional ordinary Portland cement production. The Amsterdam plant is scheduled for commissioning by early 2026.
EMC Cement CEO Atle Lygren said "Our EMC Technology, by replacing 70% of Portland cement clinker, enables significant climate action without the need for costly carbon capture and storage, aligning with the demands of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."
Germany: Heidelberg Materials has secured a patent for a new method for producing Portland composite cement (PCC) using calcined clay and recycled waste cement. GlobalData News has reported that the process involves grinding clay with quartz and feldspar and calcining the clay, before mixing it with the cement. The PCC’s cement content varies from 30% to 80%, while its calcined clay content varies from 10% to 70%.
Holcim announces over 15 upcoming acquisitions in 2024
18 January 2024Switzerland: Holcim says that it aims to conclude 15 - 20 new acquisitions in 2024, and potentially ‘many more.’ The value of individual deals ranges from US$5.78 – 115m, but might possibly exceed US$230m. Holcim says that it is focussing on growing its construction waste recycling business in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, as well as its aggregates business in Eastern Europe.
Holcim’s ECOCycle construction-demolition material recycling technology named Circularity Lighthouse
17 January 2024Switzerland: McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum have recognised Holcim’s ECOCycle recycling technology for construction-demolition material (CDM) as a "Circularity Lighthouse in the Built Environment." ECOCycle technology can process 100% of CDM input into new building materials with 75% lower CO2 emissions than traditional alternatives.
Chief sustainability officer Nollaig Forrest said “Circularity is a game changer to decarbonise buildings at scale. At Holcim we are operating over 100 ECOCycle recycling centres globally to drive circular construction. With our advanced recycling of CDM, we can already reduce the CO2 footprint of cement by up to 40%. This is just the beginning; as we innovate and partner across the value chain to evolve building norms, we aim to accelerate the shift to circular construction in all metropolitan areas where we operate.”
Neustark sees potential in German market
04 January 2024Germany: Switzerland-based CO2 mineralisation technology developer Neustark says that it sees major potential for recycling concrete from construction and demolition waste (CDW) to produce carbon-negative products using its process in Germany. Neustark inaugurated its first German plant, and 12th overall, at Marzahn in Berlin in late 2023. Capital Online News has reported that the start-up estimates that Germany generates 60Mt/yr of CDW concrete, but only recycles 600,000t/yr (1%). This contrasts with international CDW concrete recycling rates as high as 15% in Switzerland and the US.
The start-up, founded at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 2019, currently absorbs 10kg/t of CO2 in its recycled materials, but aims to reach 60kg/t. Its investors include Holcim.
Heidelberg Materials Mineralik and UM Recycling start demolition and construction waste partnership
27 December 2023Germany: Heidelberg Materials Mineralik has started a partnership with UM Recycling to use demolition and construction waste in the production of cement and concrete in the greater Frankfurt Area. UM Recycling, a subsidiary of Antal Group, specialises in the disposal and recycling of construction waste and other materials.
George Antal, the owner of the Antal Group, said “After more than 15 years of active work in the dismantling industry, we are looking forward to working with our partner Heidelberg Materials to transform mineral waste into a product for use in concrete and cement, thereby making a valuable contribution to holistic building material recycling."
Heidelberg Materials operates several ready-mixed concrete plants around Frankfurt and runs a cement grinding plant at Mainz.
UK: Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries has commenced its construction of a cement blending plant and import hub on the River Thames at the Port of Tilbury in Essex. The facility also includes units for the production of reduced-CO2 cement components, including ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and construction demolition waste (CDW)-based materials. The Tilbury site has five loading heads and will help Aggregate Industries to maintain its continuous supply of conventional, reduced-CO2 and circular cementitious materials to London and South East England.
Chief executive officer Dragan Maksimovic said “This important investment will further strengthen our position in the market, allowing us to drive our sustainability ambitions and lead the way in low carbon and circular building materials. The London and South East construction market has major regional projects on the horizon, and we are primed and ready to meet the region’s rising demand for sustainable solutions.”
Steve Curley, managing director cement, added “Our ECOPlanet range of green cement was recently added to our green offering. By investing in this impressive facility within the Port of Tilbury, we will truly boost our sustainable offering and be more agile and efficient in the way we manufacture, transport and supply our products across this region.”
Update on cement at COP28
06 December 2023The Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) has been cheerleading at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai this week with the release of a progress report on the sector’s work towards reaching net zero by 2050. The headline figures are that net CO2 emissions per tonne of cementitious material fell by 23% in 2021 compared to 1990 based on Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) data. Energy efficiency improved by 19% and the fossil fuel component used by the cement sector has fallen to 80% from 98% in 1990. The GCCA has described 2020 - 2030 as the “decade to make it happen” and has set some targets to back this up. Its members intend to reduce CO2 emissions per tonne of cement by 20% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels and concrete CO2 emissions per m3 by 25% over the same time-frame.
The new developments for the cement sector at COP28 so far have been the launch of separate but apparently similar initiatives to help decarbonisation through coordination between nations. The Cement Breakthrough Agenda, backed by the government of Canada and other partners, follows the creation of the Breakthrough Agenda at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) whereby designated governments lead so-called ‘Priority Actions’ to decarbonise various sectors. The idea is to collaborate on measures such as policies, regulations and technologies to help reduce the cost of future investment in decarbonisation. The priority actions will be developed in 2023, worked towards in 2024 and then revised on a regular basis thereafter. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also launched the so-called ‘Climate Club’ on 1 December 2023 to help developing nations invest in technologies to decarbonise sectors such as cement and steel production. The intention is to set up the technical groundwork for a standardised calculation of CO2 intensity in selected products, such as cement and steel, set definitions on what net zero is for these sectors and then set up a platform to connect countries with funding and technical support from governments and the private sector. Neither the Cement Breakthrough Agenda nor the Climate Club has mentioned funding though.
Additionally, Holcim announced that it had become a founding member of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s SMI Circularity Task Force. The group aims to promote the circular economy to the private and public sector. Holcim was keen to point out that it is already recycling nearly 7Mt/yr of construction and demolition waste, with a target of 10Mt/yr pencilled in by 2025.
Other groups are not as upbeat as the GCCA though. The Global Carbon Project, for example, has estimated in its annual Global Carbon Budget that global fossil CO2 emissions are set to rise by 1.4% year-on-year to 36.8Bnt in 2023. This figure includes both the CO2 released by cement production and the CO2 uptake from cement carbonation. Ongoing research by Robbie Andrew, a greenhouse gas emissions scientist at the CICERO Center for Climate Research in Norway and the Global Carbon Project, found that process emissions by the cement sector fell for the first time since 2015 in 2022, to reach 1.61Bnt. This decrease was most likely due to China’s falling cement production in 2022, stemming from a downturn in the local real estate sector. However, both the data from GCCA and the Global Carbon Project may be right simultaneously as they look at the emissions of the cement sector in different ways.
The GCCA’s job is to advocate for the cement and concrete sector and it is presenting itself well at COP28. Since its formation, it has set up roadmaps, encouraged collaboration and innovation, and is now reporting back on its progress. Net zero remains the goal by 2050, but the GCCA is being upfront about the role carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is expected to play after 2030 and the lack of any full-scale CCUS units so far. Yet it is tracking what has happened so far through the Green Cement Technology Tracker in conjunction with Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT).
As for the rest of COP28, various reports have been aired in the international press about whether the conference will call for a formal phase out of fossil fuels in some form or another. Whether it actually happens is another matter entirely, especially considering that the president of COP28 is the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and any eventual language would likely be vague. Yet the work by the GGCA and others has started to make the unthinkable a little more thinkable.
Holcim and others launch SMI Circularity Taskforce at COP28
04 December 2023UAE: Holcim has launched and become a founding member of the SMI Circularity Task Force in collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) and others. The SMI Circularity Taskforce aims to accelerate the development of the global circular economy, in complement to Holcim’s goal of recycling 10Mt of construction-demolition materials (CDM) by 2025, and 20Mt in Europe alone by 2030. Holcim and its partners launched the task force at the COP28 climate conference in the UAE on 4 December 2023.
Holcim chair and chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said "With our world’s rising population and urbanisation, we need to build better with less to raise living standards for all while preserving nature. Circularity is a gamechanger to make this happen at scale. At Holcim we are driving circular construction across all metropolitan areas where we operate to build cities from cities, recycling CDM into new building solutions. I am excited to be joining like-minded organisations to accelerate the shift to a more circular future together."
Switzerland: Holcim has reported growing sales and earnings on an organic basis in first nine months of 2023. In real terms its sales declined by 10% year-on-year to US$22.7bn during the first nine months of 2023 from US$25.2bn in the first nine months of 2022. Its recurring earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) fell by 2.2% to US$4.05bn from US$4.14bn. However, sales and recurring EBIT grew by 6.2% and 14% respectively on an organic basis. The group divested businesses in India, Brazil and Russia in 2022.
Cement sales were US$11.5bn (51% of group sales), down by 20% from US$14.4bn (57% of group sales). These sales rose by 12% on an organic basis. Throughout the period, ECOPlanet low-carbon cement accounted for 19% of the company’s cement sales. It also recycled 17% more construction and demolition waste year-on-year. Group CO2 emissions per net sales fell by 43% between 2020 and 2023.
Chair and chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “I thank all members of the Holcim family for delivering profitable growth in the third quarter of 2023 despite challenging economic conditions, marked by softer demand in some markets and foreign exchange headwinds.” He added “The third quarter of 2023 results confirm Holcim’s strong earnings profile, with broad-based growth drivers delivering another increase in profitability. This performance gives us the confidence to upgrade our 2023 guidance to an industry-leading recurring EBIT margin of above 17% for the year.” The group also upgraded its outlook for full year organic sales growth to above 6% and for organic EBIT growth to above 10%.