Material Evolution is set to be the largest low-carbon cement manufacturer in the UK.

Its pioneering ultra-low carbon cement is coming into mass production in Wrexham this October.

The £7.6m Mevocrete project backed by Innovate UK under the Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI) Challenge programme intends to deliver cement with up to 85 per cent less CO2 than traditional OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement).

This green leap by the Middlesbrough-based company is part of an effort to deliver a carbon-negative cement.

Material Evolution aims to roll out 150,000 tonnes of this eco-friendly cement every year.

Inside Material Evolution lab alternate  (Image: Material Evolution)

Professor David Hughes, CSO at Material Evolution and co-lead of Mevocrete project 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.

"Concrete is ubiquitous in nature being the second most used material on earth, and is one of the world’s biggest contributors to CO2 emissions, so presenting solutions for its decarbonisation is at the heart of circular efforts within the construction industry.

“Cement is a binder and what we’re looking at here is creating a net zero embodied carbon cement which is inherently more durable, which means our houses, infrastructure and transport highways would be transformed on mass industry scale, really tapping into a local and national picture of a net zero environment.

“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."

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As cement accounts for 8% of the world's CO2 emissions, this breakthrough offers a significant step towards worldwide efforts in decarbonising construction.

The business’s strategy was propelled by the revision of the BS 8500 industry standard for concrete by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in October 2023.

This revision allows concrete producers to apply up to 65 per cent less OPC and hence motivates greener practices in the industry.

Dr Liz Gilligan, co-founder of Material Evolution, said: "In just a few years, we’ve achieved a remarkable position within the industry, and soon we’ll be able to launch our first industrial-scale cement factory in Wrexham working at volume – delivering a product that’ll enable today’s contractors, engineers and architects to build a greener tomorrow.

"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."

The Mevocrete project itself is scheduled to end in 2024, projecting Material Evolution as a front-runner in environmentally friendly cement in a global sector worth £500 billion every year.

For more details about Material Evolution and their services, you can visit their website at https://www.materialevolution.com/.