Denmark installs cement-free pipes

Danish utility company, Aarhus Vand A/S, has become the first customer to install IBF’s Geoprime®, cement-free pipes. IBF, Denmark’s leading concrete manufacturer, has reduced the CO₂ emissions of its concrete pipes by replacing cement in their manufacture with Betolar’s Geoprime binder. The binder, which is based on blastfurnace slag, more than halves the CO₂ footprint of the pipes compared to ordinary concrete pipes, without compromising on strength, dimensions or resistance to wear.

Aarhus Vand A/S, which supplies drinking water and handles sewage for 350,000 private and business customers in the Aarhus area of Denmark, has installed a 600m stretch of the cement-free concrete pipes on Lykkesholms Allé in the Aarhus district of Viby.

“IBF is the market leader in the concrete manufacturing and distribution in Denmark and can deliver several different solutions areas. We are very happy to cooperate with them in the Danish markets. IBF is showing that they are a true forerunner in bringing low-carbon solutions to the Danish markets and has integrated this fully into their strategy,” says Janne Rauramo, head of EMEA at Finnish materials technology company, Betolar Plc.

“Our cooperation with Betolar has worked really well and taking Geoprime into use in our production is so easy because we have not needed to make any changes in our production. This has really surprised us and our customers how easy everything is,” says Jesper K K Bang, engineer at IBF. “Right now the pipes are a little more expensive than ordinary concrete pipes but in line with increasing demand we expect the price to be competitive.”