Switzerland: Holcim has announced a partnership with Norman Foster Foundation with the aim of turning emergency housing into resilient homes. The collaboration will leverage Holcim's concrete expertise to develop reusable designs. Holcim says that it will focus on innovations such as low-carbon concrete, lightweight prefabricated support structures and green cements for soil stabilisation.

Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “Currently, we have over 80m people who have been forced to flee their homes around the world. Emergency shelters can be more than just a roof over their head: they should offer people the dignity and safety of a home. We are excited to collaborate with the Norman Foster Foundation to put our solutions as well as our expertise in affordable housing to work to achieve this goal.”

Europe: Italy-based Cementir has launched Aalborg InBind, a premixed white binder for ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) applications. The supplier said that Aalborg InBind optimizes UHPC producers' costs by leveraging locally available materials.

Group chief sales, marketing and commercial development officer Michele Di Marino said “The specific needs of local projects have led precast concrete producers to look for their own UHPC by using local aggregates and chemical admixtures." He added "InBind is set to meet the market needs by providing a flexible and user-friendly binder solution.”

UK: Concrene Limited has obtained a US patent for its Graphene Reinforced Concrete technology. The technology uses graphene dispersed in water to create a uniform distribution of graphene particles in concrete. Graphene increases the strength of concrete, enabling less cement to be used in its production.

Concrene Limited invited interested US stakeholders to discuss opportunities for commercial partnerships.

Indonesia: Finland-based Betolar has introduced its Geoprime reduced-CO₂ concrete technology into the Indonesian market. Geoprime facilitates the production of reduced-CO₂ concrete using industrial side streams.

Betolar head of Asia Juha Pinomaa said "The concrete industry is facing a pivotal moment in the global fight against climate change, and Indonesia is taking urgent action in changing the way cities are built. Betolar's Geoprime solution can unlock the construction industry's challenge to reduce their CO₂ emissions. It's not surprising that we are seeing rapid growth, especially in South East Asia, where urbanisation is among the fastest in the world."