County Tyrone-based building materials supplier CEMCOR has successfully completed production trials of a new low carbon cement product, CalcinX, which is set to revolutionise the construction industry.

CalcinX is a calcined clay product produced using locally available raw materials which are then heat treated at lower temperatures compared with conventional clinker.

Calcined clay is widely regarded as an important decarbonisation tool for the construction industry due to its significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to conventional cement products.

Cookstown-based CEMCOR partnered with two of its local customers to trial CalcinX in industrial scale concrete applications.

Tobermore, an industry leading concrete paving manufacturer, has produced a range of paving bricks using up to 50% CalcinX as a CEM II replacement.

Moore Concrete, an innovative, quality focused precast concrete manufacturer, produced demonstration precast concrete units using up to 50% CalcinX as a CEM I replacement.

These trials have proven to be very successful with the feedback received playing a critical role in the ongoing development and optimisation of CalcinX.

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David Millar, Managing Director, CEMCOR said: "While our existing product range is well established in the market, at CEMCOR we are always looking to the future to develop innovative products which can help our customers to achieve their own sustainability goals.

"CalcinX will enhance our current product range, allowing us to develop a range of low carbon cement products for a wide range of applications. CalcinX further enhances our commitment to invest in sustainable outputs and to protect the environment around us following other significant investments over the last 3 years.

"The development to date of CalcinX is a significant milestone not only for CEMCOR but also the wider industry and we are delighted to have partnered with two valued customers in Tobermore and Moore Concrete in this process."

The completion of production trials of CalcinX represents a first for the UK cement industry and a significant milestone in the development of next generation low carbon cementitious materials.

Driven by CEMCOR's focus of providing its customers with the highest quality, industry leading products, the successful development of CalcinX is the result of an ambitious project which commenced shortly after CEMCOR's inception in early 2022.

With an awareness of the construction industry’s contribution to global emissions and a desire to transform the industry’s outputs, CEMCOR places sustainability as a top priority having previously pledged an investment of over £6 million in multiple industry-leading upgrades, focusing on ESG.

CalcinX has been spearheaded by Dr. Allistair Wilkinson, Technical and Innovation Manager at CEMCOR. He has successfully led the project from its initial concept to full-scale production.

Supporting the ongoing technical development of CalcinX, funding has been received from Innovate UK through its Contracts for Innovation: Decarbonising Concrete programme.

This funding has allowed CEMCOR to partner with Queen’s University, Belfast on the technical development of CalcinX to optimise the calcination process and material properties.