Dublin-headquartered low-carbon cement maker Ecocem has obtained a European Technical Assessment (ETA) for its cement, which the company says achieves a 70% reduction in CO2 compared with the average European cement blend.
It does this by cutting the clinker content by up to 70% and replacing it with available fillers and local supplementary cementitious materials.
Trials of its technology, called “ACT”, have demonstrated good performance on strength, durability and concrete workability, the company said.
An ETA gives manufacturers a route to CE marking when their product isn’t covered by a harmonised standard under the Construction Products Regulation (EU) 305/2011.
It’s awarded by the European Organisation for Technical Assessment in Brussels.
Eyes on the world
Ecocem said it paves the way to rolling out its products across Europe by 2026, and even globally because ETAs are “recognised and highly respected internationally”.
It will increase activity at factories in the Netherlands, Ireland, and France, where it will build a new mill to grind limestone at its Dunkirk plant in partnership with CB Green.
In the US, the company is in the later stages of permitting for a plant on the West Coast.
‘No longer theoretical’
Company founder Donal O’Riain said the cement “provides the cement industry with a unique opportunity to halve emissions within the decade and become the first industrial sector to achieve a 1.5C decarbonisation trajectory”.
Ecocem’s European standards manager Christian Clergue added: “Thanks to the ETA, we now have the assessment that proves ACT’s safety and its performance. It is no longer theoretical, but a real, existing technology that can now start having an impact.”
Ecocem’s products have been used or tested on a number of high-profile projects such as the Grand Paris Express, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Heathrow Airport, and HS2.
Investors in Ecocem include Saint-Gobain Group, the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and ArcelorMittal.
