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.

UK: RTU has installed a €587,000, 7200t/yr concrete recycling system at its Newtownabbey ready-mix concrete plant in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The Irish News has reported that the system is equipped with two high-capacity reclaimers, grey water stirring tanks and a filter press.

Managing Director Alan Sproule noted that the system is the first of its kind installed at a concrete plant on the island of Ireland.

US: A court has ordered Fabcon Precast to pay a US$500,000 fine and serve two years of organisational probation for its violation of safety standards in connection to the death of a worker following an incident at its Grove City precast concrete plant on 6 June 2020. The Columbus Dispatch newspaper has reported that Zachary Ledbetter died of injuries resulting from crushing. He had entered a discharge chute with a colleague holding his feet in order to unjam a pneumatic discharge gate.

The court found that Ledbetter had received no specific training on the discharge function of the equipment. It noted that a broken handle on the machine had been left unrepaired for several months prior to the accident.

Portugal: Spain-based Molins has announced its acquisition of Portugal’s Concremat, along with plans to build two new Concremat precast plants. Expansión News has reported the combined value of the acquisition and organic expansion as €100m.