Displaying items by tag: sand

UK: Heidelberg Materials has acquired the outstanding Smiths Concrete shares from the Smiths family. Smiths Concrete operates seven concrete plants, two quarries and an inert landfill site across Warwickshire and Oxfordshire in the centre of England. It has owned a minority stake in the Banbury-headquartered joint venture since its inception in 1957.

Going forward, Smiths Concrete will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity and there are no plans currently to change its branding or day-to-day operations. Similarly, it will continue to seek approval for its proposed new sand and gravel quarry at Wasperton Farm in Warwickshire, England.

Spain: Topcret has added to two new products to its decorative microcement coatings range. BabaxEco and EcoCemento both comprise cement, fine sand, polymers and pigments. Topcret was the first microcement coatings producer to obtain environmental product declarations (EPDs) for its products.

Japan: A team at the University of Tokyo has developed cement-free alternative concrete from ultra-fine sand and fly ash. NHK has reported that the process uses recyclable alcohols and has lower CO₂ emissions compared to concrete production using ordinary Portland cement. Research with industrial partners into possible construction sector applications is underway. Partnerships with Japanese ready-mixed concrete producers are reportedly also under discussion.

Further information is available from Yuzo Tobisaka, an independent Japanese consultant in the cement and ready-mixed concrete industry, at yuzo.tobisaka@gmail.com.

US: Eco Material Technologies has supplied its PozzoCEM Vite clinker-free cement to 3D printing construction firm Hive 3D for its The Casitas @ The Halles project in Texas. PozzoCEM Vite cement has 92% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The producer said that concrete produced using PozzoCEM Vite is also more durable and longer lasting than OPC-based concrete. Eco Material Technologies and Hive 3D developed a custom batching system to mix PozzoCEM Vite cement and local Texan sand for use in the project. Eco Material Technologies said that the system created a significant cost reduction compared with other available printable mortar technologies.

Eco Material Technologies recently launched a new 99% reduced CO₂ PozzoCEM formulation, which it expects to use in future projects with Hive 3D. Other reduced-CO₂ cements produced by Eco Material Technologies include its PozzoSlag 50% ground granulated blast furnace slag cement. In total, Eco Material Technologies has supplied 1Mt of reduced-CO₂ cements across 4000 construction sites since 2012. It said that it expects to announce multiple new infrastructure projects and strategic partnerships later in 2023.

Eco Material Technologies' CEO Grant Quasha said “Hive 3D’s commitment to building the first 100% cement replacement 3D printed homes aligns with our goal of transitioning the construction industry away from using materials that generate approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions each year."

India: A team at SRM Institute of Science and Technology has patented a new concrete paving block produced using fibres from waste printed circuit board (WPCB). The refuse-derived material will replace some sand and clay in the concrete mix. SRM Institute of Science and Technology said that India generates 2Mt/yr of electronic waste (e-waste), and additionally imports this type of waste from other countries. Besides being non-biodegradable, WPCB is contaminated with colouring chemicals.

The developers said "The steadily rising volume of electronic waste poses a serious hazard to human health and the environment."

Czech Republic: Českomoravský Beton has acquired six ready-mixed concrete plants and a sandpit in Moravia from Kámen Zbraslav. The plants have a total capacity of 85,000m³/yr. Českomoravský Beton says that they have a ‘well-established residential and commercial customer base’ in and around Brno.

Parent company HeidelbergCement says that the acquisition drives forward its portfolio optimisation programme. It now operates 80 ready-mixed concrete plants in the Czech Republic.

France: Eqiom’s demolition waste recycling plant Gennevilliers in Paris has processed 10,000t of material since it opened in January 2022. The site has a target of 50,000t/yr in its first year of operation. Sand, gravel and larger aggregate fractions are screened from the concrete in a ratio of 40%, 20% and 40% respectively, according to Le Moniteur. The gravel is used at a nearby concrete plant whilst the sand and aggregate is used mostly in road construction.