The grant comes as part of the EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2024 and will support a programme of work which will focus on optimising the environmental compatibility of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) slag for low-carbon cement.

One of just 31 winners out of 401 submissions, this project will be crucial. As the steel sector shifts from blast furnaces to EAFs in an effort to decarbonise its own processes, the nature of the material produced as part of the steel manufacturing process will change.  

The EIC Pathfinder Challenges are funded by Horizon Europe, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. The fund is designed to tackle climate change, support progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and boost the EU’s competitiveness and growth. 

As a pioneer in the optimisation of slags for use as cementitious materials, Ecocem’s new research will aim to optimise EAF slag reactivity. Ultimately, the goal is to make EAF slag work more effectively as a supplementary cementitious material without compromising the durability of the cement it is used to make. The project was submitted to the Pathfinder Challenge 2 call: “Towards Cement and Concrete as a Carbon Sink.”

Eoin Condren, Ecocem’s Corporate Development Executive Director, commented: “This recognition confirms Ecocem’s position at the forefront of sustainable innovation in the cement industry. For many years, we have been pioneering the use of a range of slags and cementitious materials to create scalable and durable low-carbon cement. Thanks to this grant, we will continue our groundbreaking work as the steel industry transitions to new manufacturing processes, delivering a viable solution for a new generation of waste from steel.

“This award is also a testament to the importance of collaboration between scientists, industry players, innovators, and public bodies to significantly accelerate the development, scaling, and adoption of low-carbon technologies. I am confident that working with this group of highly respected organisations we will deliver groundbreaking innovation. It is only by working together to tackle our industry’s most pressing challenges that we can hope to meaningfully decarbonise the cement industry in line with net zero goals.”

The submission, led by Ecocem’s award-winning scientist Simon Blotevogel, was developed in collaboration with ArcelorMittal, the University of Toulouse, the FehS Building Materials Institute, the CNRS – Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, and the ETH. The programme will run for the next four years, with testing taking place in Paris in partnership with ArcelorMittal.

Created to advance research projects across five strategic areas, including for the first time Cement and Concrete, the EIC Pathfinder Challenges awards almost €116 million in EU funding each year. The grants, of up to €4 million support the early-stage development of future technologies (usually activities at Low Technology Readiness Levels 1-3), up to proof-of-concept.

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