Replacing cement: Vito researcher wins award for SCM research

Every year, Rilem, the Paris-based international union of experts in construction materials, awards two medals to researchers under 35 who have made an outstanding scientific contribution to the field.

SCMs are considered the most effective measure to reduce both the costs and the greenhouse gas emissions in the production of cement. Cement is the main component in concrete, the most used material in the world after water.

Some 4.2 billion tonnes of cement is produced each year, with a massive impact on the environment and climate change; the cement industry accounts for 8% of global CO₂ emissions.

One of the conclusions of Snellings’ research is that the building industry urgently needs new sources of SCMs to further decrease the proportion of cement in concrete. Conventional sources, like blast-furnace slags or fuel ash, are already heavily exploited. According to Snellings, new sources can be found in underexploited waste streams that have been recently reprocessed or reactivated.

Photo courtesy Vito