Almost every city on this planet is dominated by one material: concrete. This ubiquitous building material is chosen for being strong, durable, temperature and water-resistant, and easy to mould. However, the popularity means that the production of concrete is also responsible for 8% of total global CO2 emissions – that’s more than any other country besides the U.S. and China! In fact, scientists say that sand and gravel are being extracted faster than they can be replaced, making a new concrete alternative desperately needed to close the concrete loop. Enter C2CA Technology, the Dutch start-up on a mission to upcycle end-of-life concrete into new building materials, therefore reducing emissions, preventing rubble from going to the landfill and preserving scarce natural resources. Their journey began in 2016 when Delft University of Technology and private company GBN joined forces as a spin-off from a European research project. This year they hit a huge milestone as their demo line became fully operational, processing 1,000 tons of waste concrete. So the next time you’re passing a building site in the city, those brand new walls might just be made from an old demolished one.
What They Say: “We aim to mitigate the 8% of global CO2 emissions coming from cement production, by upcycling waste concrete into drop-in substitutes to aggregate, sand, and cement. The vision is to produce circular concrete without primary raw materials.”
Founder/s: Thomas Petithuguenin
Based In: Utrecht, The Netherlands
Website: www.c2ca.tech