May 25, 2016 / By Groupa Concrete
The words ‘eco’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ are thrown around quite often in many industries and are seen as one of the pinnacles a product or service should aspire to be. It is no surprise then that over the years, the quest for eco-friendly concrete has ensued and continues to be a strong topic in the industry. In today’s blog, we’ll take a look at some of the examples that are being developed presently.
First up we have Eco Concrete from Counties Ready Mix in New Zealand. In order to achieve this, they have substituted a portion of the cement in their mixture with fly ash, which is a byproduct of coal burning power stations. This product also has lower water demands and costs the same as pouring regular concrete.
In Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has been working on developing an environmentally friendly concrete, which came as a response from the government asking companies to use eco-friendly materials. Thus the concrete called Green-Mix came to be. Green-Mix also uses fly-ash and in addition to this implements the use of aluminum cans by cutting them up and using them in the mix as reinforcement in concrete. What is also interesting to note is that this type of concrete can become up to 30% stronger than the regular kind.
More recently in Britain, a company called Novacem has been investigating the potential for creating an eco-friendly concrete. Their formula uses magnesium sulphate, which requires less heating. The company states that their concrete is also able to absorb 0.6 tons of CO2, helping lessen our carbon footprint.
While these are just some of the few examples being created around the world, it is important to note that many of these products are in testing phases and the side effects of them are still unknown. Be sure to always consult with a qualified professional before deciding to use such a product.