Concrete remains one of the most essential materials for modern infrastructure, forming the backbone of roads, buildings and cities worldwide. While durable, affordable and locally produced, its environmental impact is significant due to the CO₂-intensive nature of cement production. Around two-thirds of cement-related emissions are unavoidable, as they stem from the high-temperature processing of limestone to produce clinker.
In response to this challenge and in line with its net-zero ambition by 2050, the company is advancing innovative and scalable technologies to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of concrete. One of the most promising solutions is its proprietary ReConcrete approach, which aims to fully recycle concrete while actively reducing CO₂ emissions.
Conventional concrete recycling methods typically involve crushing demolition waste into granulate, which is then used for road bases or earthworks. While preferable to landfilling, this process does not preserve the quality of the original materials. Cement stone remains attached to sand and gravel, reducing their strength and increasing water demand if reused in fresh concrete. As a result, high-value reuse in new concrete or cement production remains limited.
ReConcrete overcomes these limitations through selective separation technology. By applying controlled shear forces rather than high pressure, the process removes cement stone from sand and gravel without damaging the aggregates. This innovation enables the recovery of sand with properties close to natural materials and gravel that can replace virgin aggregates by up to 100 percent without compromising quality.
In July 2024, the company commissioned a first-of-its-kind industrial-scale selective separation recycling facility near Katowice, Poland. The facility allows for the complete recycling of concrete into its original components: high-quality sand, gravel, and a fine powder known as recycled concrete paste (RCP). The process is fully mechanical and dry, making it cost-efficient and suitable for large-scale deployment.
RCP, once considered an unwanted by-product, plays a central role in decarbonisation. It can partially replace limestone in cement production, preventing approximately 150 kg of CO₂ emissions per tonne of RCP. Beyond this, RCP unlocks further carbon savings through enforced carbonation, a process that accelerates CO₂ binding by exposing the material to kiln gases containing high CO₂ concentrations.
An industrial demonstrator facility for enforced carbonation is currently under development at the Górażdże cement plant in Poland. Trials have shown that near-complete carbonation can be achieved in under 30 minutes without external energy input, making it an efficient form of carbon capture and storage. After carbonation, RCP can also be used as a supplementary cementitious material, replacing clinker and avoiding an additional 750–850 kg of CO₂ per tonne.
Together, selective separation and enforced carbonation have the potential to save up to one tonne of CO₂ per tonne of RCP processed. With recycling capacities reaching up to 100 tonnes of concrete per hour, ReConcrete represents a major step toward circular construction and large-scale emissions reduction.
As pilot projects move toward industrial and commercial validation, the focus now shifts to scaling the technology across regions. Widespread adoption of cost-efficient, high-quality concrete recycling will be critical to meeting market demand, reducing emissions and enabling a fully circular concrete economy.
