Holcim Promotes New Low Carbon Concrete Range

On the 29th of April 2021, Holcim Australia released an all-new low carbon concrete product range that can be used in both residential and large-scale infrastructure projects. Holcim cites the product’s success in 13 other countries as motivation to release this product to Australia's construction industry, moving us a step towards a greener future.

Holcim claims their low carbon product, known as ECOPact, is a concrete mix that uses new technology in conjunction with industry by-products (see table below, typically fly ash and slag) to reduce carbon content found in concrete mixtures that use natural resources. ECOPact claimed low carbon concrete (LCC) helps builders, developers, architects, engineers and designers reduce the embodied carbon in residential, office and infrastructure projects by up to 30% and 60% compared to average standard mixed concrete. Holcim additionally released an Australian-first accredited carbon offset program, ECOPactZERO which reduces carbon reduction to 100% when combined with ECOPact; making dreams of 100% carbon-neutral projects a reality. The graph below demonstrates the difference between these new products to conventional mixtures.

RENEWABLE FUEL FROM

Credit: Holcim

Concrete is the next most-used material on earth (after water) and the demand for this material is only growing. With the development of low-carbon products such as ECOPact and its counterpart ECOPactZERO, the construction industry can do its part to protect our environment. As stated in Holcim’s media release, ECOPact can do this through the reduction of the carbon footprint produced by concrete up to 100% with the use of offsets, whilst also conserving natural resources and additionally contributing to a circular economy by diverting resources from landfill and closing material cycles. To put the impact of this new product range into perspective, Holcim states that if a project like the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built using ECOPact at only 60% embodied carbon reduction, it would be the equivalent of removing 14,700 cars off the road for one year. With data like this, ECOPact has the opportunity to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions produced by the construction industry that currently make up 1/5 of Australia’s total emissions, which is considered to be a huge step in concrete innovation. Chief Executive Officer of Holcim Australia & New Zealand, George Agriogiannis, released a statement regarding the new range saying, “I am proud to announce our commitment to helping reduce the embodied carbon of concrete construction. We pride ourselves on being a solutions provider to our customers and ECOPact is a substantial shift towards sustainable construction,” he said.

The Australasian (iron & steel) Slag Association CEO, Craig Heidrich commented, "It pleasing to see another company in Holcim stepping up and making a substantial shift towards contributing to a more sustainable construction industry - supporting the circular economy through increased adoption/inclusion of co-products like iron and steel slags in the manufacture of low carbon concretes".