Material Evolution (UK) have worked with academic and industrial partners to develop and optimise low carbon geo polymer cement technology for production in the Mevocrete project. The Mevocrete project, backed by a GBP7.6m grant (US$10m) from Innovate UK through their Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI) Challenge programme, began in September 2022 and is now coming to an end.
The waste materials used in Mevocrete are collected from various landfill sites and activated through a low-energy solid state chemical reaction process dubbed alkali fusion, a process that does not require heat or a release of CO2. Upon the completion of the research and development phase, the move to production will start, with the company becoming the biggest producer of low carbon cement in the UK by substituting ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with industrial waste. However, Mevocrete carries a 20 per cent price premium over OPC, the hope remaining costs will reduce as volume of production increases.
Co-leader of the Mevocrete project, David Hughes, said, “This project really is a collaborative journey for a more positive carbon neutral built environment which, through Mevocrete and new technology, sees an untapped supply of historic-by-products from heavy industry diverted away from landfill. We’re already having conversations with leading contractors, architects, government agencies and institutions that ultimately have a huge say in the way cement is made and specified. We’re providing the means to a greener future, taking industrial waste from landfills and powering it into something new, sustainable and less carbon intensive.”
Material Evolution’s journey has been accelerated through revisions to the industry standard for concrete, BS 8500, revised in October 2023 by the British Standards Institution (BSI). This revision has been able to provide greater flexibility for producers, using up to 65 per cent less OPC replacement by two or more, low-carbon cementitious materials, therefore helping producers and specifiers in the concrete industry. Business owner Liz Gilligan said, “Our ultimate goal is to remove one gigaton of carbon by 2040, and these ambitious targets are driving our research forward with likeminded collaborators across various industries as we continue to accelerate the net zero agenda.
