India: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) has developed a new prefabricated concrete panel made of alternative raw materials. The technology incorporates expanded polystyrene (EPS), along with fly ash and calcium carbide residues from industry. ETV Bharat News has reported that the panels have a lifespan of 70 years. A specially-designed wall structure and bonding mechanism called Steel Eps Concrete Re-Organised Building Technology (SECROBuilT) allows for construction up to four storeys with 40% less weight and greater sound and thermal insulation than conventional concrete construction. The method further allows for quicker assembly with a lower labour dependency.

Italy: Precast concrete production equipment supplier Progress Group has launched its Selective Paste Intrusion (SPI) 3D printing process for large-format concrete parts at its Brixen plant in South Tyrol. The system achieves a layer resolution of 3mm and allows for complex geometries and surface detail beyond what is generally achievable with conventional printing methods. It enables targeted material deposition by placing paste only where structurally necessary.

Bulgaria/Germany: Germany-based equipment supplier Liebherr-Mischtechnik will relocate its concrete mixers and mixing plants production operations from Germany to its Plovdiv plant in Bulgaria’s Trakia Economic Zone. The move aims to optimise costs within the producer’s existing production network.

Australia: Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have used low-grade clay to produce a supplementary cementitious material that can replace up to 20% of cement in concrete. The process mixes equal portions of illite and kaolin clays and heats them at 600°C. The resulting material increases the compressive strength of concrete by 15% and reduces its porosity by 41%, compared to exclusively ordinary Portland cement-based concrete. Writing in the Journal of Engineering, the team reported that the co-calcination of the materials increases disordered material by 18%, enhancing binding ability.

Lead author Roshan Jayathilakage noted the ‘economic and environmental’ scalability of the process.