Eco-friendly concrete company seals development deal
A significant development deal has been forged with Concretene, the innovative business behind a carbon-reducing nanotechnology for concrete.
The Manchester-based business has agreed the arrangement with Derbyshire-based piling and pre-cast concrete manufacturer Roger Bullivant.
It means Concretene will supply its graphene-enhanced admixture that reduces embodied carbon in concrete to Roger Bullivant.
On successful completion of a government-funded development project for pre-cast piling and foundation applications, commercial deliveries could start in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Concretene reduces the carbon footprint of concrete by improving compressive, tensile and flexural strength and durability, such that the amount of cement – which is responsible for more than 85% of emissions from concrete – can be used for equivalent or improved performance.
The technology has also demonstrated rapid early strength in concrete mixes, with relevance to increased throughput for standard precast applications, and also to mitigate the slower curing times of existing low carbon cements.
Funding for the pre-cast project, worth £1.21m and starting immediately, is provided by Innovate UK under its SMART grant, which support SMEs and industrial partners in developing disruptive innovations with potential for rapid economic return to the UK.
The award brings Concretene’s total of government funding secured this year for its core programme to more than £2.4m, after three previous awards announced in October.
Support for the project from Roger Bullivant includes a proposal for establishment of a pilot manufacturing plant for Concretene at its Swadlincote headquarters in south Derbyshire.
Importantly, the site, fully serviced to provide batching and pre-cast manufacture, would enable Concretene to prove the viability of its manufacturing proposition towards wider scale-up and roll-out to the UK and international concrete industry.
Roger Bullivant is part of Soletanche Bachy, a foundations company and part of VINCI, the French construction, infrastructure and energy group of companies with €60bn annual revenue.
David Clement, Roger Bullivant manging director, said: “Our precast foundation systems, manufactured using low carbon concrete are an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods.
“As part of Soletanche Bachy and VINCI, we have an ambitious target to reduce our concrete and cement-related CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030. We also have an in-house expertise in low carbon concrete under the EXEGY label. This exciting R&D initiative in partnership with Concretene is the next step in our carbon reduction journey and is a critical element of our sustainability strategy.”
Mike Harrison, chief operating officer of Concretene, said: “This is another significant step on our journey to commercialisation of our product and we are delighted to be working with the team at Roger Bullivant.
“Concretene has an important role to play in helping the construction industry meet challenging net zero targets and the establishment of pilot manufacturing will be vital as we scale our operation.”
