Global launch of ‘green’ concrete starts with UK

Earth Friendly Concrete has already been utilised at the HS2 project.

Australian construction materials specialist Wagners has announced that the global launch of its Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC) will start in the UK.

The company’s EFC product is said to be more sustainable than traditional concrete, with around 70% less embodied CO2. This equates to a saving of 250kg of CO2 per cubic metre poured, according to the firm.

Jason Zafiriadis, Wagners EFC General Manager, said, “The official launch of Earth Friendly Concrete in the UK is the next big step for Wagners and very timely in the two weeks of COP26.”

Described by Wagners as the “world’s only zero-cement concrete”, EFC is made from a binder consisting of industrial waste products, ground granulated blast furnace slag and pulverised fly ash with no Portland Cement.

Wagners, which exhibited the product at the COP26 event in Glasgow last week, said the carbon savings offered by the product have already been “proven at scale”. 

Through a partnership with London-based Capital Concrete, EFC has already been utilised on the HS2 project with over 900m³ used for the temporary works piling mats, as well as 2km³ for haul roads and crane bases. This has saved 725,000kg of embodied carbon so far, Wagners claimed.

Zafiriadis added, “Demand for concrete is growing, but progress in reducing the carbon content of cement and the cement content in concrete has been far too slow. We are ready to accelerate the reduction of the carbon footprint in construction.”

In addition to being low carbon, EFC is also said to offer low shrinkage, greater durability and better fire resistance, when compared to Portland cement.