Cement 2 Zero project to help decarbonise key industrial sectors

The £6.5m UKRI-funded project aims to further the decarbonisation of the construction, cement and steel sectors to help meet the UK government’s Net Zero ambitions. 

Led by the Materials Processing Institute, supported by Cambridge University (UoC) - and in collaboration with Atkins, Balfour Beatty, CELSA Steel, Day Aggregates and Tarmac - Cement 2 Zero is said to be the first collaborative trial of its kind to address the global construction industry’s biggest challenge of decarbonisation.

In a statement, Chris McDonald, CEO of the Materials Processing Institute, said: “Cement 2 Zero has the potential to make a significant contribution to achieving a zero-carbon society, secure and increase jobs in the UK cement and steel sectors and challenge conventional production processes, creating high-value materials from demolition waste.”

The chemical and thermal combustion processes involved in the production of cement are a significant source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with over four billion tonnes of cement produced annually, accounting for around seven per cent of global CO2 emissions, according to the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). In the UK, concrete and cement account for 1.5 per cent of UK carbon dioxide emissions.