Wagners, a diversified Australian construction firm, has announced that it will invest heavily in London as a global launchpad its new generation building material, Earth Friendly Concrete® (EFC).
Wagners has already started its expansion into Germany and has chosen London as its initial global expansion focus. The announcement comes as Wagners attends and exhibits in the Australian Pavilion at COP26 in Glasgow.
Earth Friendly Concrete® is more sustainable than traditional concrete, with around 70% less embodied CO2 saving 250kg of CO2 per cubic metre poured. It is made from a binder consisting of industrial waste products, ground granulated blast furnace slag and pulverised fly ash with no Portland Cement.
In partnership with London-based Capital Concrete, Wagners Earth Friendly Concrete® has so far been utilised on the High Speed 2 (HS2) with over 900m³ of EFC 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. At Silvertown tunnel, 322m³ of Earth Friendly Concrete® has been used to date for its temporary works.
Wagners Earth Friendly Concrete® General Manager Jason Zafiriadis 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.
“We are excited to be attending and exhibiting in Glasgow and cannot wait to be able to demonstrate how and why Earth Friendly Concrete® is the world’s only zero-cement concrete that has been proven at scale.”
In developing EFC, Wagners recognised that the built environment is responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions. Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world and the cement industry generates around 2.8 bn tonnes of CO2 every year and is the source of around 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions.
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.”
EFC’s performance advantages over ordinary Portland cement also include improved durability, lower shrinkage, earlier strength gain, higher flexural tensile strength and increased fire resistance Wagners will be exhibiting in the Australian Pavilion at COP26 on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 November and General Manager Jason Zafiriadis will be available for interviews in Glasgow during COP and in London until the end of November.
