With the recent arrival of Néolithe, GCC has taken a further step forward in the deployment of low-carbon concrete. The three partners have just poured an invert for a very low carbon footprint fuel loading slab for RTM (Régie des Transports Métropolitains) in Marseille. The HUKR concrete used incorporates 20% aggregate produced by accelerated fossilization of non-recyclable building site waste manufactured by Néolithe. This invert will be used by GCC's engineering and technical department to take precise measurements in terms of decarbonation and durability compared with the use of traditional concrete.
Asked to create a temporary bus depot site in Marseille for RTM, GCC Provence's Travaux teams and GCC's Technical Department seized the opportunity to launch a series of tests on the strength, durability and behavior over time of Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies' first H-UKR concrete made with Neolithe recycled aggregates. The target element for the test is the fuel loading bay slab of the depot.
For the first time, GCC has also partnered with Néolithe, the creator of a new material, Anthropocite. This patented process consists of mineral aggregates derived from the accelerated fossilization of mixed non-recyclable waste materials such as plastic, wood and glass wool. For this GCC project, 20% of these aggregates are incorporated into Hoffmann Green Cement Technologie's low-carbon concrete.
While the use of this concrete changes nothing in terms of processing, it does change everything in terms of carbon footprint: the H-UKR + 20% Anthropocite formulation produces 62 kg CO2eq/m3 , compared to 167 kg for traditional CEM II/A concrete.
In practice, GCC poured two identical slabs for comparative purposes:
- A slab with traditionally formulated concrete
- A slab with 370 kg/m3 of Hoffmann 0% clinker cement, combined with aggregates derived from the fossilisation of Neolith waste (20%), in addition to the 80% of standard aggregates.
Tests have already started and will continue during the two years the loading slab will be in operation. Deformability measurements are scheduled at 1, 2, 3, 5 months and one year. Then, after 2 years of operation, load-to-failure tests will be carried out for both formulations (tradi, low-carbon), in order to later compare the difference in long-term mechanical behaviour.
“This project perfectly illustrates one of GCC's key priorities, which is to work on the implementation of sober and sustainable solutions. The work we've been doing for several years with Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies enables us to take tangible action in this direction, and the partnership with Néolithe enables us to take a further step in the direction of decarbonisation, an essential issue for the building and construction industry”, says Patrick Dubourg, Executive Vice-President of GCC.
“Since 2020, our collaboration with GCC has continued to strengthen, and this project is a clear demonstration of that! Together, with visionary partners like Néolithe and RTM, we are determined to revolutionise construction by decarbonising it. Thanks to Néolithe's innovative recycled aggregates, our ambition is clear: to supply the world's most carbon-free concrete today,” says Julien Blanchard, President and Co-founder of Hoffmann Green.
Laurence Hemerit, Director of Infrastructures: “RTM, which is very committed to reducing the carbon impact of its activities, is interested in any initiative in this area. We found GCC's proposal very interesting in that it enabled us to carry out a large-scale, long-term comparative test to assess the qualities of lowcarbon concrete. Our temporary bus storage site was therefore the ideal candidate for this experiment.”
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