The concrete, Ecocem ACT, replaces clinker with other materials. Clinker production emits CO2 both from the large amounts of fossil fuel used to heat kilns, and from the chemical process itself. Ecocem's ACT replaces this material with SCMs and limestone filler, cutting its overall carbon impact.
Ecocem has a long-standing relationship with steel company ArcelorMittal, from whom it sources GGBS or ground granulated blast furnace slag. This material is becoming harder to source as the steel sector decarbonises. Ecocem ACT has been designed to work with a wider range of materials, including industrial by-products, calcined clays produced at lower temperatures than clinker, natural pozzolans, and next-generation metallurgical slags.聽 The company was recently awarded 鈧�4m in research funding from the European Innovation Council to optimise the use of electric arc furnace slag, a potential replacement for GGBS.
The challenge for the sector has been to demonstrate that novel materials like this can be poured in the same way as traditional mixes. Ecocem's material has been used on a demonstrator in Wembley Park by Sisk. At the Uxbridge Moor substation project, Murphy broke UK records for the largest single pour of the material, in temporary works.
In Shipley, the material was used for the first time in permanent works, in a capping beam for a contiguous pile wall. In this use, it is expected to save 145kg CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per cubic metre compared to CEM III/A, a BS8500 mix.
Ecocem is currently expanding its Dunkirk production facility, one of four in Europe, with the addition of a plant dedicated to the production of Ecocem ACT. Earlier this week,聽Wopke Hoekstra, EU commissioner for climate, net zero, and clean growth, visited the plant.
When fully operational at the end of 2026, the site will have a production capacity of 300,000 tonnes of ACT cement annually. During his visit, Hoekstra said, "This visit highlights the progress being made towards decarbonising one of Europe鈥檚 most emissions-intensive sectors. It also underlines the clear opportunity for the EU to take a leading position in the decarbonisation of the global cement sector, delivering our climate objectives and strengthening industrial competitiveness and achieving more independence.
鈥淲hat I have seen here at Ecocem is exactly the type of solution Europe should be supporting as we accelerate industrial decarbonisation.鈥�
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