Ibstock, a UK leading manufacturer of clay and concrete building products, and Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) have entered into a new partnership to create ultra-low carbon concrete products.

This partnership supports Ibstock’s ambitious ESG targets. Having recently launched its ESG Strategy to 2030, Ibstock is committed to ‘Manufacture Materials for Life’ and improving the environmental performance of its products. Its milestone 2030 target is to achieve 20 per cent of sales turnover revenue from new and sustainable products. 

EFC is more sustainable than traditional concrete, with around 70 per cent less embodied CO₂ saving 250kg of CO₂/m3 poured. It is made from a binder consisting of industrial waste products, ground granulated blastfurnace slag and pulverised fly ash with no Portland Cement. Since it was launched in 2020, EFC has saved around 2000t of CO₂ across construction projects. It has been used in several high-profile projects including High Speed 2 (HS2) and Silvertown Tunnel.

The technology has performance advantages over ordinary Portland cement-based products, including improved durability, lower shrinkage, higher flexural tensile strength and increased fire resistance. It is the only zero-cement concrete technology that has been proven at scale on real life commercial projects across the world.

Darren Waters, chief operating officer at Ibstock, said: “As a business at the heart of building, our ambition is to be the most sustainable manufacturer of concrete products in the UK. Collaborating with EFC marks a significant step in achieving this goal as we collaborate and innovate to manufacture materials for life.

EFC UK Regional Manager, Andy Izod, said: “We are delighted to strengthen our presence in the UK through this partnership with Ibstock. We will not only focus on introducing Earth Friendly Concrete into the wider construction market across a range of projects, regions, applications and supply chains but will also share our ground-breaking technology with partners like Ibstock, which will help them to achieve ultra-low carbon outcomes for their business.”