Ash Improvement Technology Inc (AIT) and Sika AG of Switzerland announced today that they entered a Strategic Alliance to develop products to help reduce the CO2 emissions related to the production of cement. As part of the agreement, Sika has also made an investment to take an equity stake in AIT.

"Construction markets worldwide are demanding innovation for more environmentally sustainable cement and concrete. Sika is committed to deliver the best technology to the market to help our customers produce a more sustainable product," says Philippe Jost, Senior Vice President at Sika.

"Technologies such as AIT's CleanCem™ process are an inherent part of Sika's strategy towards the future of our industry."

AIT has conceived the CleanCem™ method to convert coal ash, a waste material, into a high value substitute for cement. Coal is the main source of power in some of the world's largest economies, such as China, India and the US, where most of the 1bnt of coal ash generated every year is disposed of in landfills.

"Coal ash is a perfect material to substitute clinker, hence reducing CO2 emissions inherent to cement production, and the environmental toll of large ash disposal sites," says Marc Zacharias, President and CEO of AIT.

AIT's proprietary technology treats coal ash while it is formed within the power plant. The result is an end product that unlike many of the other alternatives is highly cost-effective, and offers flexibility in production that allows for performance levels tailored to a number of end use applications.