The Cementitious Materials International Technical and Trade Congress which was held in Casablanca, Morocco on April 18-19 was a highly praised and sold out event. It brought together experts from around the world to discuss how cementitious materials (SCMs) can be reused within the cement and construction industries.
This gathering has been made more significant by concerns about climate change and resource depletion pushing companies to adopt sustainable methods. During this two-day event, leaders in industry, research or consultants shared their knowledge thereby contributing greatly towards dealing with these challenges.
The congress served as a platform for changing ideas hence becoming a sounding board for new technologies while shaping regulations surrounding these concepts; also providing updates on market trends among others. It showcased what could be achieved through cutting-edge research into sustainable cement making methods coupled with practical solutions applicable at different stages across sectors involved in construction work.
Looking at all the speeches made by different presenters one cannot fail to notice that they were packed with knowledge which can be described as being rich and insightful too. Each speaker offered his/her unique viewpoint thereby ensuring that there were lively debates around each topic discussed thus enabling participants to get stimulated intellectually concerning future challenges or opportunities that may arise in relation to them.
Amr Nader, the CEO of A³&Co., gave an in-depth look at what’s involved with decarbonizing the cement industry. Drawing on 20 years of experience across 50+ countries, Mr. Nader explored global trends and innovations as well as challenges and opportunities around cement decarbonization. He also discussed key strategic initiatives and technological advancements that are driving global efforts in this area, underscoring their economic and environmental implications while providing a roadmap for achieving net-zero emissions. His presentation weighed investment and policy implications against technological innovations for carbon reduction — ultimately offering a guidepost through decarbonization’s complexities towards unlocking sustainable growth opportunities within cement.
Massimiliano Riva, Principal at Green Climate Fund and Acting Sustainability Lead at EBRD, offered reflections on low-carbon pathways for the cement and concrete sector as well as green financial products. Mr. Riva focused primarily on sustainability – exploring climate solutions in greater depth alongside financial instruments employed by EBRD itself. He covered various aspects such as EBRD’s concessional finance or sustainability-linked bonds among others when discussing climate solutions & financial products from different angles during his talk. Mr. Riva stressed the need for alliances and cooperation in order to speed up the climate transition. He also talked about embedding climate change in decision making and scaling high impact climate technologies. According to him, financial instruments should be designed with sustainability objectives in mind so that they can act as catalysts for moving towards a low carbon economy.
Grant Quasha who is the Chairman & CEO of Eco Material Technologies gave an overview of current developments within North American SCM industry whilst concentrating on sustainable building materials made from Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs). Mr Quasha pointed out how SCMs have changed over time when it comes to their use in concrete production as well as mentioning some environmental benefits associated with them. He went ahead and touched on topics such as coal ash availability vis-à-vis carbon emissions reductions; trends, difficulties faced by countries involved in international trade involving SCMs among others before finally wrapping up his presentation by underlining the need for more regulations pertaining these products if decarbonization targets were to be met not forgetting their contribution towards achieving sustainable development goals especially those related to cement industry CO2 emission reduction efforts.
In relation to sustainable development using fly ash, particularly in Europe, Fabrice Fayola who is the President of ECOBA and the CEO of SURSCHISTE has given his views. He spoke about power problems experienced by European countries as well as CCP production, while indicating the advantages of fly ash in concrete and its environmental effects. He also laid down what ECOBA does and hopes to achieve in future concerning sustainable building, with special attention being paid on carbon neutrality through use of fly ash in construction towards achieving sustainability. Through his speech Mr.Fayola underlined the necessity of fly ash for green buildings and called for further developments within the European SCM market.
Jean-Yves Bonnaire–co-owner/ managing director CARIB SAND & STONE Ltd – reviewed criteria for selecting SCMs in an unstable & fast moving market place. Jean-Yves highlighted the need for materials that have pozzolanic or hydraulic properties. He analyzed different types of SCMs available, their market, challenges on availability, looking at it from logistical point of view and considering also what happens when they are used together with concrete. Jean Yves gave a great insight on how one can navigate through these challenges when selecting SCM’s within this dynamic environment which was truly invaluable information shared during his presentation.
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was considered by Dan Maleski who is the Lead CBAM Advisor at Redshaw Advisors Ltd. He examined the objectives and consequences apparent in CBAM; he also gives an account on an anticipated financial impact it may have towards different exporters as well as adaptive measures that can be taken into consideration. He put much weight on green initiatives coupled with renewable energy solutions while providing cement exporters with strategies to face challenges brought about by carbon tax so that they can transform them into opportunities for sustainable development.
Nanotechnology has been discussed by Dr Asli Özbora – Technical Manager (European Ready-Mixed Concrete Organization) concerning future aspects related to cementitious materials. Recent advances in nanotech were highlighted along with their various applications such as enhancing properties of concrete which eventually leads towards more sustainable environment friendly structures according to her speech. She also urged investment into R&D for breakthrough technologies saying that this field holds great promise towards achieving sustainable buildings industry wide.
Also, to talk about the eco-friendly alternatives to ordinary cement, Dr. Monower Sadique who is a professor of construction materials at Liverpool John Moores University presented his study on second-generation self-activated geopolymers for sustainable construction. He also explained the environmental benefits and challenges of using geopolymer instead of conventional cement. The speaker mentioned some new developments in strength as well as possible uses of self-activating geopolymers which are considered breakthroughs in creating green building materials.
Philippe Bourdiol, Division Manager at Firefly AB, presented about preventing fires during cement production. He gave an overview of their fire prevention solutions for critical areas, talked about detection methods they use as well as water mist suppression systems that are in place. Additionally he shared some real cases where their products were implemented and stressed importance on fire protection in cement production.
Dr. Yassine Taha who is an assistant professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University gave a speech regarding the use of supplementary cementitious materials derived from mine waste. During his presentation, he talked about different problems faced by mining industries such as environmental impacts caused by wastes produced during extraction processes and their management systems; then he focused on recycling those residues into useful products like SCMs for cement manufacturing instead of disposing them off as hazardous materials or simply storing them indefinitely. He also shared some real-life examples where this approach has been successfully applied together with prospects for further utilization in concrete production while stressing out that it is vital to employ mines dumps in place of traditional raw inputs for sustainable development within the sector.
Richard (Yu) Jiang, PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge, explored additive manufacturing of cementitious materials for construction. Mr. Jiang discussed the efficiency and sustainability benefits of 3D printing over traditional construction methods, outlining key components and processes involved in 3D printing. He presented real-world applications and future prospects of 3D printing in construction, offering valuable insights into the transformative potential of 3D printing technology in revolutionizing the construction industry.
Mohammed Elhaddad holds the position of Sustainable Construction Lab Manager at LafargeHolcim Morocco. Elhaddad revealed that his discussion would tackle supplementary cementitious materials’ role in sustainable construction locally. He began by describing various practices adopted towards achieving sustainability within buildings based on Moroccan context then went ahead to outline the company’s sustainability strategy and commitment to innovation. before concluding with showcasing some projects where they have applied innovation thinking while still considering environmental impact assessment as well cost effectiveness analysis among other factors.
A special presentation was held on Reducing Carbon Footprint by Moladi CEO and Founder Mr. Hennie Botes on their innovative monolitic cast system helping low cost housing ion developing countries.
The key takeaways from this event were knowledge exchange, cooperation, and novelty, all revolving around sustainable practices, which form the backbone for future development within the construction industry, especially in the cement sector. What distinguished these insights the most was their origin — experts themselves, who have been making speeches over the years, discussed, among other things, the need to form strategic alliances between companies working towards common goals. This not only benefits themselves but also mitigates effects brought by global warming through climate change adaptation measures, while still encouraging innovation, which would lead us closer towards our desired greener environment realization.
A warm thank you to our sponsors Eco Material Technologies, Firefly and A³&Co.®
and to our partners ECOBA, AUCBM UACMC, BIBM and World Cement Association.
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