UK: Heidelberg Materials UK has built a new ready-mix concrete batching plant at the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk. The batching plant will produce nuclear-grade concrete for the cut-off wall around the power station perimeter. The wall will facilitate the excavation of 4Mm³ of earth for the construction of two reactor units at the Sizewell C plant.

Heidelberg Materials UK major projects director Sean Hunter said “Our nuclear team has wide-ranging experience in the sector, including liaising with the Office of Nuclear Regulation to produce health and safety control documents. Heidelberg Materials was the first company in the UK certified to produce nuclear-grade concrete in accordance with BS EN 19443.”

Heidelberg Materials UK previously supplied building materials for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset, where it employed 80 people on site. It says that it may employ up to 200 people in its operations at the Sizewell C plant.

Switzerland: Holcim has executed projects across its global ready-mix operations under the Aquasave initiative to replace freshwater with recirculated water from industry and treatment plants. The producer is committed to reducing its freshwater withdrawals by 15% per cubic metre of ready-mix concrete between 2020 and 2030.

In Mexico, Holcim México has replaced freshwater with 100% used water from the Compañía Mexicana de Aguas water treatment plant at 12 of its ready-mix concrete batching plants. It is also including used water from the local food and beverage industry in mixes produced at its Lerma, Tlaquepaque and Toluca batching plants. Altogether, Aquasave initiatives carried out by Holcim México saved 95m litres of freshwater in the past 12 months.

Holcim Maroc reduced freshwater withdrawals at its Tit Mellil ready-mix concrete batching plant near Casablanca, Morocco, by 30% after securing a used water supply from a local water treatment plant. Holcim Australia has done likewise at its Kawana ready-mix concrete batching plant in Queensland, with supplementary withdrawals from the municipal water grid. The Kawana plant uses 58l/m³ of freshwater, 68% below Australia’s 2030 target of 180l/m³. In the UAE, Holcim subsidiary Readymix Gulf is using desalinated water in line with municipal standards, as well as treating sewage effluent using its installed reverse osmosis systems. Meanwhile in Ecuador, Holcim Ecuador treats water on site for re-use, including at its San Eduardo batching plant, which aims to save 41,000m³ of freshwater by 2029.

Austria: Kirchdorfer Gruppe’s precast concrete subsidiary MABA Fertigteilindustrie has secured Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC) Silver certification for its precast concrete plants at Gerasdorf and Wöllersdorf in Lower Austria and Grafendorf in Styria. Mixes from the Gerasdorf and Wöllersdorf plants achieved CSC’s CO₂ emissions Level 3, 50% below industry reference value, while mixes from the Grafendorf plant achieved Level 2, 40% below.

Australia: Green360 Technologies has secured a binding agreement to supply Eifers Civil with up to 4800t of its MKX metakaolin supplementary cementitious material product, at a fixed price of US$173/t delivered, over an initial 12-month period. Green360 said that it had already used MKX-containing concrete in major infrastructure in Melbourne, with more than 3500m³ poured across infrastructure projects in the city. Together with Holcim, its supply agreements now cover up to 9600t. The company estimates the value of the contract to generate approximately US$831,000 of revenue for the initial 12-month supply period.