Philippines: Holcim Philippines and Sungshin Cement have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Holcim Philippines will be priority supplier of cement for use in Sungshin Cement's ready-mix concrete operations in the Philippines, InPR News has reported. South Korea-based Sungshin Cement is anticipating growing demand from infrastructure projects, partly due to a US$3bn development loan agreement between the government of the Philippines and South Korea.
Master Builders Solutions to supply 11,000t of concrete admixtures for Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project
Denmark/Germany: US-based Master Builders Solutions has won a contract to supply admixtures for use in the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel project. The project will build a 17.6km immersed tunnel between the islands of Fehmarn in Germany and Lolland in Denmark. It will directly connect Germany via a double-track railway and four-lane motorway to eastern Denmark and the Scandinavian Peninsula beyond. This will reduce rail travel time between Hamburg in Germany and Copenhagen in Denmark by 35% to 3 hours 15 minutes. The tunnel will consist of 79 standard 217m-long precast elements, and a further ten 85.7m-long service elements. The latter include a subfloor sections in addition to the tunnel's four tubes. Master Builders Solutions says that it will supply 11,000t of admixture to produce a total 3Mm3 of concrete required for the project. The supplier said that its admixtures will help concrete to meet specifications in line with the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel's projected 120-year lifespan. Master Builders Solutions has collaborated with contractor FLC to develop a new MasterEase superplasticiser for use in the project.
Master Builders Solutions Denmark technical manager Jens Qvist said "This has been an incredibly exciting process, requiring very close collaboration with both our own European colleagues and FLC’s Danish and international concrete experts."
Global Cement and Concrete Association announces Innovandi Open Challenge 2023 shortlist
World: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has named the 15 anticipated deliverers of low-CO2 cement and concrete production shortlisted for participation in its second Innovandi Open Challenge. The association chose the start-ups based on their potential to deliver CO2 emissions reduction in the global cement and concrete sector in line with its Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. The applicants are presenting their pitches to GCCA members on 30 June 2023. All those accepted will gain access to members' plants, labs, networks and expertise. The following start-ups made the Innovandi Open Challenge 2023 shortlist:
| Arrakis Materials | US | Carbon negative materials for concrete |
| Chement | US | Room temperature cement production |
| EcoAdmix Global | UK | Nanotechnology ('HDT') for concrete |
| EcoLocked | Germany | Biocarbon-based admixtures |
| EnviCore | Canada | Low temperature supplementary cementitious material production |
| Enzymatic | US | Carbon negative enzymatic concrete corrosion inhibition and recycling |
| Louis Structures | US | Municipal solid waste-based lightweight aggregates |
| MEP - SeaMix | US | Basalt fibre and graphene-based admixture |
| Nano Crete | US | Graphene-enhanced CO2 sequestration |
| Nanospan India | India | Graphene-based admixture |
| NeoCrete | New Zealand | Nano-activator for natural pozzolans |
| Queens Carbon | US | ~500°C cementitious materials production |
| The Cool Corporation | UK | Carbon negative carbon nanotube-based additive for concrete |
| Ultra High Materials | US | Clinkerless cement |
| Versarien Graphene | UK | Graphene-based admixture ('Cementene') |
GCCA cement director and innovation lead Claude Loréa said “We received more than 70 quality applications, so drawing up a shortlist was challenging." Loréa continued "Our essential industry needs something easily scalable and affordable. Those start-ups on the list demonstrated the most potential, and we look forward to hearing more about their ideas. But we’ll also be keeping in touch with other start-ups who didn’t make this year’s shortlist, with future projects in mind.”
Eco Material Technologies supplies clinker-free cement for Texas housing project
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."
