New ultra-low carbon cement pilot launched

Material Evolution is launching a pilot project of its ultra-low carbon cement, MevoCem, in partnership with leading building materials solutions company CRH and its UK operating company Tarmac.

The pilot will demonstrate MevoCem’s performance under the new BSI Code of Practice Flex 350 which allows for the specification of a wider range of lower carbon concretes to help decarbonise construction projects. It may help provide the data necessary for Flex350 to be incorporated into the broader BS8500 concrete standard – which is equivalent to the EU’s EN206 – making it simpler to deliver projects using the latest low carbon innovations.

By using proprietary alkali fusion technology to produce MevoCem, Material Evolution has eliminated the need for heat as part of the cement production process, providing an up to 85% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to traditional cement.

The project follows the selection of Material Evolution as a winner in the recent Sustainable Materials Accelerator Program, led by CRH Ventures – the venture capital unit of CRH – which identified innovative materials and applications to lower emissions, reduce waste and improve energy use across the construction sector.

Liz Gilligan, CEO and co-founder of Material Evolution, said: “This partnership is a major milestone for our team, and we’re excited to deepen our relationship with CRH and Tarmac as we scale MevoCem at a commercial level. CRH’s commitment as an early adopter of our next-generation ultra-low carbon cement products is especially significant - it supports not just our growth, but the continued research required to deliver a true net zero cement alternative.

“Decarbonising the construction industry is one of the most urgent environmental challenges we face. It’s only through partnerships, collaboration, and innovation with industry leaders that we can accelerate the adoption of ultra-low carbon cement across the sector.”

Eduardo Gomez, head of CRH Ventures, commented: “Through our accelerator programmes CRH is supporting the delivery of market-ready innovation to our customers across the construction value chain.

“Winners gain access to CRH’s extensive network and expertise to drive forward the availability of smarter solutions to support a more resilient built environment.”

Josh Bennett, national technical manager for Ready-Mix at Tarmac, commented: “We are looking forward to collaborating with the team at Material Evolution to pilot the next-generation of ultra-low carbon cement products currently under development, and continuing to advance progress in the materials science of low carbon products.”

As the biggest producer of low-carbon cement in the UK, Material Evolution’s Mevo A1 Production Facility in Wrexham has the capacity to produce 120,000 tonnes of MevoCem annually, making the company the largest producer of ultra-low carbon cement in the UK.