C2CA, a spin-out of TU Delft, is transforming the construction industry by upcycling waste concrete into a low-carbon cement substitute, addressing the urgent challenge of reducing CO2 emissions from cement production. Cement accounts for 8% of global emissions, yet its low-cost, availability, performance and versatility make it essential and much desired. Reducing these emissions has been challenging—until now. C2CA’s breakthrough process converts low-value waste concrete into high-quality, low-carbon materials, particularly a highly reactive cementitious binder. Unlike competitors who downcycle concrete into low-grade aggregates, C2CA produces premium materials to replace cement, delivering both environmental benefits and commercial viability. Our low-carbon cement competes on cost and quality with traditional alternatives like fly ash and slag, which are being phased out. While new options like calcined clay and mine tailings are costly or energy-intensive to produce and transport. By 2024, C2CA has developed its core machines on an industrial scale, processing over 1,000 tons of waste concrete. Our materials have been validated in multiple pilot projects, proving technical and commercial viability. The next milestone is building our full-scale upcycling plant. EIC funding is essential for advancing our project, which requires significant capital and has long lead times. Proving our plant’s reliability is crucial for commercial rollout, but we encounter technical, regulatory, and market risks that complicate investment, including energy price volatility and a preference for traditional materials. With the EIC support we can overcome the barriers, complete our flagship plant, demonstrate our technologies at an industrial scale, and build a comprehensive testing facility. This facility will streamline the process at a smaller scale to accelerate innovation and include a material testing lab to ensure the successful market introduction of recycled concrete.

C2CA, a spin-off from TU Delft, is pioneering a revolutionary solution to transform the construction industry by upcycling waste concrete. Cement contributes 8% of global CO2 emissions but is crucial for our infrastructure and quality of life. These emissions are hard to reduce due to cement's commoditization, the abundance of low-cost limestone, ease of use, versatility, and high performance. To mitigate these emissions, the C2CA solution is to upcycle waste concrete – available worldwide at zero or negative cost – into a low-carbon cement substitute. C2CA has developed a unique and defensible process: the only company with the complete process know-how to upcycle waste concrete into new, high-quality materials and particularly a low carbon highly reactive cementitious binder. Other companies "downcycle" concrete waste into low-quality aggregates, Whereas C2CA produces a high-quality low-carbon material to replace cement in concrete, offering both environmental and commercial value. The C2CA low-carbon cement competes on cost and quality with traditional alternatives such as fly-ash and slag, which are being phased, as well as emerging materials like calcined clay or mine tailings, which are energy-intensive or costly to transport. By 2024, C2CA has developed its core machines on an industrial scale, and processed about 1000 tons of waste concrete. Our materials have been used in a dozen pilot projects, receiving technical and commercial validation from customers. The next major milestone is to build a large commercial factory to demonstrate the full process, validate its economic model, and support future financing needs. In addition, C2CA must invest in R&D to enhance its technology with AI sensors for input materials and adaptive process controls to ensure consistent, high-quality output despite variable input quality. C2CA will develop a digital twin to simulate and optimize its process for all world regions.

Cement production is responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions, mainly from limestone processing to produce clinker. Clinker can be replaced by other raw materials, such as clay, ashes, slags or recycled concrete fines. These materials can be processed into Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM), which have a lower CO2 footprint than Portland Cement. DETOCS proposes a new approach to rapidly increase the use of SCMs on existing production facilities: by exploiting the latest innovations in digital tools to predict and control the quality of cement and concrete blends with high amounts of SCMs compared to today’s standards. Our network aims to lay the scientific foundations to create knowledge and new models to study the production of high quality SCMs and their impact on low-carbon cement and concrete mixes. The goal is to reduce clinker factor from ca. 70% today to 40% by 2030 and 25% by 2035, targeting a CO2 emissions of 0.2 t.CO2/t.cement (compared to today’s global average of 0.65 t.CO2/t.cement). At DETOCS, the partners combine top-notch scientific expertise, interdisciplinary know-how, engineering solutions and real-world process data into an industry-driven network. The structured approach combines complementary research for each individual project in the academic and industry sectors. The top-level research work is accompanied by a balanced mix of the newest scientific courses and transferable skills training delivered by each partner locally and in dedicated training schools, seminars, and workshops at the network level. This way, each doctoral candidate builds up deep scientific expertise and interdisciplinary knowledge to deliver game-changing cleantech innovations during and after the project. DETOCS is impact-driven and strives for a portfolio of high-class joint publications, patents, and innovations along the value chain. The project will lay the foundations for first-of-its-kind engineering solutions to decarbonize cement and concrete products.

Effectively combating global warming requires a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. This poses enormous challenges, especially for the energy-intensive process and production industry, as this industry accounts for one third of total energy consumption. What is needed is intelligent electrification across all operational processes. Electrification has such a large potential impact on decarbonisation because it allows clean, renewable electricity to power processes that previously used emissions-intensive technologies (such as gas burners). This means that a process that previously produced high emissions can become absolutely emission-free when powered by renewable energy. The aim of the CITADEL project is to substitute fossil combustion processes with innovative electric technologies, such as electric resistance heating, microwave heating and plasma heating. Five use cases are considered, targeting the production of refractory bricks, glass and copper wires, preheating processes in steel production and the recycling of concrete. For these specific applications, appropriate demonstration plants have to be designed, built, tested close to the process and validated. This is supported by corresponding activities to provide suitable high-temperature materials and tools for instrumentation and effective process control. Challenges regarding a stable energy supply, electrical and thermal load management or intelligent energy management are simulated by means of numerical models. This includes corresponding risk assessments, e.g. with regard to possible time constraints in terms of a continuous power supply and the consequences of supply fluctuations for process safety. All demonstration cases will be evaluated by a life cycle analysis and with regard to the effectiveness in the reduction of greenhouse gases. The impact of the technical solutions developed here for the process industry will be assessed and strategies for scale-up and deployment will be elaborated.

ICEBERG will make significant advances in the uptake of the circular economy in the building industry through the development of innovative circular reverse logistics’ tools and high-value secondary raw materials production technologies to establish market confidence and acceptability of recycled End-of-Life building materials (EBM). ICEBERG aims to design, develop, demonstrate and validate advanced technologies for the production of high-purity secondary raw materials (>92%w) through 6 circular case studies (CCS) across Europe, covering circularity of wood, concrete, mixed aggregate, plasterboard, glass, polymeric insulating foams and inorganic superinsulation materials. ICEBERG will generate cross-cutting integrated smart solutions that encompass three innovative circular reverse logistics’ strategies: an upgraded BIM-aided-Smart Demolition tool; a novel digital EBM traceability platform; and Radio Frequency and QR based identification system. ICEBERG will develop novel technologies for the recovery of EBM, which include: hyperspectral imaging (HSI), machine-learning software and robotic manipulators to increase sorting efficiency of mixed aggregates; an integrated crushing, sorting and cleaning optimized system and fast pyrolysis and purification processes for wood fractions; thermal attrition mobile unit integrated with LIBS and carbonation for concrete; hydrocyclone combined with HSI sorting and acid purification to increase the purity of recycled plasterboard; a combined process of purification and solvolysis for polymeric insulating foams; advanced hydrothermal and supercritical based processing of glass and silica containing waste. Circular design solutions for greater circularity of EBM and production of innovative circular building products with high purity and recycled content (30% - 100%) will be also implemented. ICEBERG will generate in the mid-term an economic benefit of 1758 M€ and 6265 new jobs by 2030.