The decision committed initial funding with full funding anticipated in early FY2022 upon receiving environmental approvals for the Kwinana refinery.

Covalent Lithium, the joint venture company owned by Wesfarmers and SQM, has completed an updated definitive feasibility study (UDFS) for the Mt Holland lithium project.

The UDFS has provided greater certainty regarding the project’s engineering design and capital and operating costs as well as an increase in concentrator and refinery production capacity from 45,000 tonnes per annum to approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum of battery grade lithium hydroxide. The UDFS includes increased flexibility to provide for a second phase of the project to expand production capacity at Mt Holland and the Kwinana refinery. Preliminary work to evaluate expansion options will commence in parallel with the construction of the first phase of the project.

The necessary government and regulatory approvals have either been secured or are underway. Development of the integrated project remains subject to the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority's assessment of the Kwinana refinery and the issuance of a Ministerial Statement to allow works to commence.

Following receipt of all relevant approvals, construction of the mine, concentrator and refinery are expected to commence in the first half of FY2022, with purchase of long lead time items commencing in late FY2021. The first production of lithium hydroxide is expected in the second half of the 2024 calendar year. Wesfarmers’ share of capital expenditure for the development of the project is estimated at approximately $950 million1 and will be funded using existing cash and debt facilities.

Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott said that the work completed by the Covalent Lithium team over the last 12 months had allowed the FID to be taken with increased engineering definition, providing increased confidence in scheduling and cost estimates.

“The development of the Mt Holland lithium project presents an attractive investment for Wesfarmers shareholders,” Mr Scott said.

“The project capitalises on our Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers divisions’ chemical processing expertise and Western Australia's unique position to support growing global demand for electric vehicle battery materials which will make a crucial contribution to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have been pleased with progress of discussions with key battery manufacturers, which reflect a positive outlook for battery quality sustainably sourced lithium hydroxide.”

SQM Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Ramos said that SQM was pleased with the joint decision with Wesfarmers to take the FID on the Mt Holland project and with the continued collaboration between Wesfarmers and SQM.

“We remain confident regarding the outlook for the lithium market and believe that Mt Holland is a high-quality project that will play an important role supporting increased demand for electric vehicle batteries. We value the partnership that we have established with Wesfarmers and look forward to working together to develop this project,” Mr Ramos said.

The state-of-the-art resource renewal facility is planned to operate next to Sims’ existing metal recycling site in Campbellfield, Victoria. The proposed facility will use plasma gasification technology, to transform Sims’ shredded material known as ASR, into new, quality products including construction materials, electricity and recycled plastics.

“ASR is what remains once recoverable materials are removed following the recycling of metal-based goods like cars, washing machines, and shopping trolleys,” Sims Resource Renewal states.

The facility will simultaneously prompt further research and development to advance the technology and develop a globally leading, closed-loop business model to support a more circular economy.

“We want to create shared value by producing new products from recycled materials, generating local employment and economic opportunities, and partnering on social value initiatives.”

Subject to necessary environmental and planning approvals, construction of the proposed facility is expected to commence in late 2021, with the facility operational by late 2022.

The proposed facility will:

·   Help reduce Sims’ current environmental footprint in Victoria by eliminating 60,000 tonnes of ASR from landfill each year.

·   Lead to a significant decrease in trucking distance travelled.

·   Reduce CO2 emissions by enabling the reuse of materials that would otherwise need to be created from scratch.

·   Progress us towards our goal of carbon neutrality as we'll optimise the design of our technology to produce a cleaner form of electricity than currently available through the grid to power our facility and neighbouring metals recycling operation.

·   Once the technology is advanced, we'll further reduce our carbon footprint by capturing the carbon present in the shredded material to create new products which may include the building blocks of recycled plastics.

Sims Resource Renewal is hosting a series of virtual engagement events to update the community on the progress of the proposed Campbellfield resource renewal facility and to seek further feedback on design concepts and environmental considerations. The second virtual event is currently open, and the third event planned for November 2021.

Sims Resource Renewal aims to have 11 resource renewal facilities operating globally by 2030, with the first facility proposed for Campbellfield in Victoria.

Stedman Ellis, FBICRC CEO said the landmark study assessed the widely recognised once in a generation opportunity for Australia to create new battery industries.

“The report provides a snapshot of Australia’s battery industries at the start of our six year journey as a CRC, and forms an important benchmark for the impact of its investment in research, development and education.”

“It also provides an important foundation for the wider policy framework for Australia’s investment in some of the identified priority areas which can turbo charge job creation – resources technology and critical minerals processing, recycling and clean energy, and defence.

The report, “State of Play: Australia’s Battery Industries”, commissioned by the Future Battery Industry Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC), indicates this move along the value chain will bring significant social, environmental and economic benefits, placing Australia as a trusted supplier and an exporter of value-added products, rather than just raw materials.

This report by Dr Adam Best and Dr Chris Vernon from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, identifies Australia is on the cusp of developing significant capability and capacity to move further along the battery value chain, based on world class mineral resources and strong technical competence.

Future predicted increased demand for lithium for EV batteries alone is staggering, with a predicted doubling from approximately 12,500 tonnes10 in 2018, to 25,000 tonnes in 2020, to 150,000 tonnes in 2025, to 425,000 tonnes in 2030 with a linear increase of an additional 100,000 tonnes per year, every year until 2050.

This growth will, of course, be compounded by additional growth in the demand for batteries associated with consumer goods and for household and utility grid storage.  This global growth provides substantial opportunity to leverage Australia’s world class minerals endowment downstream and become better integrated in the clean energy and battery storage space.

 The report is available here.

 Quotes attributed to Dr Larry Marshall, CSIRO Chief Executive

“Science can transform our raw materials from commodities into unique, higher-value products, and keep more of that value here at home, like turning minerals into the next-generation batteries we need to underpin our energy transition,” Dr Marshall said.

“Our portfolio of national missions is focusing on leveraging Team Australia’s great science to grow Australia’s high-value exports for new markets, local jobs, and sovereign supply, so it’s great to work with the FBICRC on our shared goal to sustainably grow the battery storage sector.”

Key findings from the report:

• Australia is on the cusp of developing significant capability and capacity to move further along the battery value chain based on a world class minerals resource and strong technical competence.
• In the short term, lithium suppliers are under considerable financial pressure with some risks to the required investment to capture market opportunities.
• The real value add is in moving to cathode and anode materials – chemistries could be reproduced in Australia using local sourced materials and expertise.
• Niche markets exist further down the value chain in cell manufacture, assembly and power management systems.
• Recycling is relatively primitive and valuable battery minerals are not retained in the Australian battery supply chain.
• Policy settings for the growth of battery industries in Australia are not as integrated or strategic as those in other countries.
• If we get this right, battery industries will be a large economic opportunity for Australia attracting investment and creating jobs.

State of Play report presentation can be viewed here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XvE3bC6GRM&feature=youtu.be 

Features of the Conference

Participate from anywhere
Several 3 hour episodes Tuesday and Thursday in August 2021
Breakout discussion rooms and video project updates
Project awards + The Ed Haber Award
International Keynotes Speakers

Themes

Sustainability
Durability
Asset Management
Pavement Preservation
Resilience
Airport & Intermodal Pavements
Light Duty Pavements
Local Government

View the template and submit your abstract here

Since the successful financial close of the East Rockingham Waste-to-Energy project in December 2019, the civil works of the 300,000-tonne facility is progressing into the second phase of development.

Image supplied: Bunker piling complete including secant walls. Commenced piling cutting and excavating for ground beam on top of secant wall.

The state-of-the-art facility converts residual waste that would otherwise go to landfill into reusable energy. Once complete, East Rockingham will have the capacity to convert up to 300,000 tonnes of waste per annum, generating 29 MW of green electricity that will power around 36,000 homes in the Perth area every year. This will prevent more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent to the pollution generated by 64,000 cars.

The contract to design, build, and commission the plant was awarded by the project shareholders to Swiss cleantech company Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) a global leader in technology supply and turnkey delivery of WtE projects, and Acciona Industrial, a global leader in sustainable solutions for infrastructure, renewable energy and water treatment projects.

The project scope includes the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the following combined components:

• 140,000m³ of topsoil and earthworks
• Some 480 structural piles, 600-1200mm in diam., up to 34m deep
• 100,000m² of detailed earthworks
• 17,000m³ of concrete civil works
• 3,700 tonnes of structural steel
• 9.7km of piping, and 226km of cabling.

HZI adjusted its scope from full engineering, procurement and construction to the process technology, while Acciona supplies all civils, the turbine and balance of the plant.

Image supplied

Marc Stammbach, Managing Director of HZI Australia says the design considerations reflected the company’s global use of the technology.

“The 300,000 tpy residual WtE project was scaled to allow enough room for EMRC and other waste suppliers to recycle and compost as much as they can without any obligation to supply a minimum waste volume.

“We chose a one-line plant of a size which was already built and proven in the UK and Ireland,” Dr Stammbach said. 

“Whilst NEC had a fully permitted site for its gasification technology, we still had to go for re-permitting based on the HZI moving grate and flue gas treatment technology.”

The plant will treat residual waste from municipal commercial and industrial sources including up to 65,000 tonnes per annum of waste supplied by French waste management company Suez.

Additionally, per year 7,000 tonnes of metals are recycled from the bottom ash and its inert fraction is processed to 65,000 tonnes per annum aggregate for use in road bases and other construction materials.

This all-encompassing process of recycling waste and turning by-products into raw materials continues to drive the circular economy, a sustainable practice the planet will benefit from.

“WtE is about recycling residual waste to energy, clean gas, metals and aggregate. The remaining four per cent residue is from flue gas treatment residues and will still go to landfill but won’t contribute any greenhouse gases,” Dr Stammbach said.

“In all cases, recycling and composting come first, and only residual waste goes to WtE. Together, all of the above helps us to achieve climate-neutral and sustainable waste management.”

Image supplied: Rendered ERWTE 

While COVID-19 has predominantly shifted the work to home offices, the project’s delivery date has stayed much the same.

“We need to fly in some overseas specialists in the next two years to help with erection, installation, training and commissioning.

“In the meantime, we ramp up the local employment, and several hundred people with be working on the site soon.”

The project received the Notice to Proceed on January 3, 2020, and is set to be complete on December 2, 2022, 35 months after the Notice.

Dr Stammbach says the positive community and government response to the Western Australia plant has prompted future plans to further embrace WtE processing for residual waste.

“HZI and other industry participants are busy planning the next projects which are likely to be in Victoria and then Queensland and New South Wales.”

“As a company, we are also supplying biogas solutions for organic waste and generating hydrogen and methane from renewable power. We are also ready to retrofit CO2-removal from flue gas to achieve a negative carbon footprint for WtE!” he said.  

The study assesses the drivers and schemes for sustainability certification of battery minerals and the role of life cycle assessment in supporting social and environmental performance claims for the battery value chain.

If you missed the FBICRC Webinar on Responsible battery materials, the video is now available here.  Listen as Project Lead Damien Giurco, Professor of Resource Futures at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, chairs an international panel session with Claudia Becker, Purchasing and Supplier Network Sustainability, BMW (Germany), Jessica Robinson, General Manager, Critical Minerals Facilitation Office (Canberra) and report co-author Elsa Dominish, Research Principal, UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures (Sydney)

The report can be downloaded here.

“Both Lithium and Cobalt will be sourced in Australia, among other places.” Claudia Becker, BMW Group
 

 Battery Materials for a Circular Economy: Advancing Certification and Improving Life-CycleImpacts for Market Advantage 2020-2024

PROJECT OUTLINE

>  Certification Pathways for Australian industry and government 

> Battery Industry Data Management Framework

>  Integrated life cycle modelling platform for a circular economy

> Benchmarking, footprintingand improving resource efficiency

>  Adoption for industry transformation

CURRENT COLLABORATORS

Future Battery Industries CRC Limited

University of Technology Sydney

Australasian Pozzolan Association (APozA)

Australian Vanadium Limited

BASF Corporation USA 

Battery Stewardship Council

BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd 

Chemistry Centre (WA)

Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited

Curtin University

European Lithium Institute 

Galaxy Resources Limited

IGO Limited

MRI (Aust) Pty Ltd

Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia

Multicom Resources Limited

Murdoch University

National Institute for Environmental Studies

Syrah Resources

TechnischeUniversitätBraunschweig

University of Melbourne

University of Western Australia

His presentation discussed the journey towards the creation of the Australasian Pozzolan Association, in particular key projects defining material(s) and characteristic(s) for use as mineral binders such as; cement, lime, amorphous silica, slag or coal ash.  The Association has committed to developing a new Standard to facilitate resource beneficial use through well-defined standards ensuring these resources can be incorporated into value added applications.

Pozzolans include a broad category of materials, both naturally occurring, processed materials, and by-products of various manufacturing processes but can be generally defined as being mainly siliceous or silico-aluminous or dicalcium silicates material that will, in finely divided form and in the presence of moisture, chemically react with calcium hydroxide at ordinary temperatures to form compounds having cementitious properties.

Whilst natural pozzolans sources are well understood, there is an emerging class of manufactured pozzolans arising from various non-metallurgical and mineral processing industries which warrants greater focus given ‘Circular Economy’ drivers to minimise wastes generated. One example is lithium aluminosilicate by-products. To put in context, Australia is fast becoming a major stakeholder in the global supply of lithium products given its large resources of spodumene. This lithium bearing mineral occurs in hard rock pegmatites and can be processed to extract lithium compounds used to make valuable products such as lithium ion batteries, ceramics and lubricants, creating a lithium aluminosilicate by-product.

Whilst by-product volumes are difficult to estimate, industry predictions based on forecast demand for lithium for use in lithium ion batteries, ceramics, lubricants will result in significant quantities of lithium aluminosilicate by-product being generated over the next 5 years.  Other non-metallurgical pozzolans can include by-products such as; ferronickel slags, nickel slags, copper slags, beneficiated coal combustion products, incinerator ashes (WtE) and natural sources which can be beneficially used. 

View the presentation 

https://vimeo.com/453969881 

The Technical Committee for Concrete 2021 is now welcoming abstract submissions.

If you are involved in concrete research, technology, innovation, design, construction and materials, we urge you to submit an abstract for presentation consideration.

View the abstract submission instructions here.

The theme for Concrete 2021 is "Smart & Innovative Concrete from Disruption" and topics to consider for abstracts are:

·       Alkali-activated and Geopolymer Concretes

·       Asset Management – inspection, monitoring, remaining and extending life

·       Bridges and Underpasses – design, inspections, maintenance, failure

·       Buildings – design, inspections, maintenance, defects, compliance, certification

·       Case Studies and Major Projects

·       Concrete Materials – cement, SCM’s, admixtures, aggregates

·       Concrete Design – shear and torsion, axial, bending, models, non-linear analysis

·       Concrete Properties – shrinkage, creep, strength, heat of hydration

·       Design for Extreme Events – seismic, fire, blast, cyclone, climate change

·       Digital Innovations in Concrete – AI, 3D printing, BIM, design process, site investigations, monitoring, equipment, data management, automation, optimisation

·       Durability – modelling, cracking, design, monitoring in construction and operation, extended life

·       High Performance Concrete – UHPC, cementitious composites, SCC and viscosity modified

·       Inspection and Testing – visual scanning, thermography, drones, temperature and maturity monitoring

·       Precast, Prefabricated and Modular Concrete

·       Reinforcement, Stressing Tendons, Fibres, Other Reinforcing

·       Repair and Retrofit – materials, methods, historic structures, strengthening

·       Standards, Specifications, Recommended Practices, Model Codes

·       Sustainability – repurpose, reuse and recycle

·       Tunnels, Underground and Foundation Structures – design, construction, site investigations, monitoring

·       Water and Marine Infrastructure – design, construction, maintenance

Key Dates - Abstracts and Papers

Abstracts opening: Now Open

Abstracts close: 1 December 2020

Full papers close: 15 April 2021

Author Notification: 30 May 2021

Conference dates: 5 – 8 September 2021

INTERCEM Cementitious Materials Week is a week of exclusive webinars examining the use of Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs) within cement production, clinker reduction programmes and the global cementitious materials trading markets - including GGBFS, Fly Ash, Natural Pozzolana, calcined clay (LC3) and other alternative SCMs.

INTERCEM Cementitious Materials Week will consist of around 30 individual webinars across 4 days, looking at supplementary cementitious materials usage and trading in the global cement sector, including market forecasts, country updates, best practise case studies and much, much more. Each Live webinar will last between 30 and 60 minutes and include opportunities to put your questions to the expert panellists.

The programme will take place across the week of 14th September 2020, with individual webinar sessions scheduled across the day to accommodate a global audience based across many different international time zones.

Find out more, register and manage your schedule at www.cementitiousmaterials.com

Rather than further damaging the environment, the company has given the by-products another purpose by using rice husk as a cost-effective, eco-friendly alternative to its current operations.  

In 2018, Pilmico started using a biomass boiler to generate steam by burning rice husks to cook and sanitise the animal feeds. By recycling rice husks from partner rice mills, Pilmico was able to cut more than 60% of its bunker fuel use and in turn, reduce the company’s production costs and carbon footprint.

Naturally, burning the rice husks produced another by-product in the form of ash, creating another sustainable challenge for the company. Seeking out further opportunities to practice circular economy principles, civil engineers from the Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corporation (PANC) recycled the waste ash by supplementing cement in concrete mix. The rice husk ash reduced cement by 20% while meeting the facility's construction needs including using the ash mix in concrete slats, perimeter fencing and road gutters to prevent flooding.

In an interview with Business World, PANC Maintenance Mechanical Supervisor Michael Cayabyab said Pilmico will continue to use innovation to find sustainable alternatives to waste materials.

“Guided by Pilmico’s core value of innovation, we improved the original initiative of using rice husks for our feeds production process. With that, we are able to create more uses from the by-products of the by-products [rice husks] we are using,” he said.

Featuring:

- Christian Christodolou, A/Chief Engineer at Transport for NSW

- Margie Thomson, CEO at Cement Industry Federation

- John Vazey, Managing Director at EngAnalysis

- Louis Bettini, Principal Advisor Sustainability at Main Roads Western Australia

Date : Thursday 10th of September 12.30 – 2pm

Register at the link below:

https://live.remo.co/e/smartcrete-festival-of-ideas

Climate Launchpad is the world’s largest green business ideas competition. After several weeks of rigorous training, intense coaching and regional pitch finals, our ClimateLaunchpad teams have finally reached the Australian National Finals. This is where it all comes together and you get to witness the country’s most viable green start-ups battle it out for a spot in the global finals. 

Their goal? Global climate impact. And winning a spot to compete against 50+ countries at the global final of course. 

Be part of this green wave and join us for our first completely digital ClimateLaunchpad National Final. We expect a wide range of attendees, including leaders of innovation, government, research and industry. The top three teams from Australia will be selected by our judging panel to progress to the South-East Asian Regional finals, to be hosted by Indonesia in September.

Get your tickets today.

About the teams:

Economical Energy (SA): Our energy storage technology improves on pumped hydroelectricity – without any geographical requirements, meaning it can be built close by to renewable supply or demand. It makes use of and builds upon existing, well understood technologies, and based on our calculations, we expect it to be cheaper than pumped hydro. A provisional patent application was filed in November 2019.

Elevenstore (VIC): Current battery storage relies on unsustainable mining of global reserves of lithium and cobalt that could potentially become constrained and expensive. In addition, current battery technologies have safety issues particularly at elevated temperatures. The proposed technology is composed of safe, sustainable, environmentally-friendly, earth-abundant and cheap raw materials. These properties make our technology an excellent candidate for many high volume mobility applications, in particular in high density populations where lower driving range but affordable EVs, electric bikes and scooters are in high demand, and where weather conditions require a more stable technology than is currently available.

Geo-Fly (WA): This project involves the development of a circular-economy industrial process to create geopolymer cement from Collie fly-ash and integrate it with construction and demolition wastes (CDW) existing in Perth landfill sites (etc.) to produce an environmentally friendly and sustainable concrete product. This product aims to offset the GHG emissions produced by the conventional concrete industry (which globally accounts for ≈7% of the world’s CO2 emissions).

Localcycle (NSW): Localcycle is a local organic waste management available for cafes, restaurants, offices and councils to divert their organic waste from entering landfill and simultaneously turn it into added value products such as high-quality mushrooms, design furniture, compost, organic fertiliser sold back to local businesses and the community.

Recyslag (WA): The global demand for cobalt is high and increasing with possible supply deficit due to technology advancements coupled with rapid depletion of ore reserves leading to cobalt being labelled as a ‘critical’ element. Approximately 35 million tons of copper slag waste is produced annually worldwide with high residual content of cobalt and copper metals. The environmental risks associated with copper slag waste have been a rising concern particularly the release of potentially toxic elements to the environment which may lead to human health challenges and loss of biodiversity. Thus, recycling of copper slag waste has dual benefits of increasing supply of as well as reduce the impact on climate for a sustainable cobalt for clean energy storage society.

Seed 2 Diesel (QLD): Fuel for agriculture is too expensive. Farmers can grow their own oilseed crops, but to expect every farmer to buy, maintain, and run the equipment for a week every year to make a consistent quality fuel that meets engine standards is unreasonable. We provide equipment through a shared facility, and apply engineering expertise to make consistent quality fuel, and a central place from which to on-sell the meal.

Warren brings a wealth of technical domain experience in the research and development of concrete in Australia and New Zealand. In addition, he brings a strong existing network of industrial, academic and government relationships. Importantly, he offers a direct line of sight into issues within the concrete ecosystem and opportunities for value add.

Chair Elizabeth Taylor stated “We are delighted to welcome Warren. We look forward to working with him and our partners to operationalise innovations that address the problems, and seize the opportunities, identified by asset owners, industry organisations, SMEs, the supply chain, academics and our broader Australian community”.

Warren will join SmartCrete CRC in the middle of September and lead the consolidation of the central services function, initially supporting the “Fast Start” and Round 1 research projects.

Warren commented “SmartCrete CRC is an exciting new opportunity for the cement and concrete supply chain and leading research institutions to collaborate on research aimed at improving the sustainability and durability of concrete in infrastructure.

It provides an important vehicle for industry to address pressing research needs, assisted by the best Australian academic minds, to ensure that concrete can maintain its position in underpinning the Australian construction industry. I thank the Federal government in investing in this new venture as part of its Co-operative Research Centres program.

As incoming CEO, I look forward to engaging with a wide variety of industry and academic partners to ensure the vision of fully integrated product development and systems capability is achieved”.

Warren joins the SmartCrete CRC following 9 successful years as Director – Research and Technical Services with Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA).

SmartCrete CRC has the objective of step changing the concrete ecosystem through improvements in cost, productivity and sustainability.

The core research to formulate Australia’s novel ultra-sustainable concrete will take place at the UTS Boral Centre for Sustainable Building in Sydney.  

Once lab-tested, the team will work with Southern Highlands Concrete Construction to trial the ultra-sustainable concrete on construction sites.

Low-carbon concrete uses a high proportion of supplementary cementitious binders (SCMs) including ground granulated blast-furnace slag, fly ash and calcined clay to substitute traditional Portland cement – a major contributor to carbon emissions.

The research team, led by UTS’ Professor Vute Sirivivatnanon, combines the university’s academic knowledge with the experience of Boral’s innovation team to expand the use of low-carbon concrete while maintaining the performance of regular concrete.

“Our aim is to push the technological boundaries of binder and chemical admixture technology and lift the maximum replacement rate of OCP while maintaining the fresh and early hardened properties of concrete for optimum construction efficiency,” he said.

The $6 million project includes a $770,000 Innovative Manufacturing CRC grant and will focus on manufacturing processes that increase the strenght of lower carbon concrete and improve surface finishing techniques.

Image: Shutterstock - Sample cylinder concrete for testing concrete strength

CEO and managing director of IMCRC, David Chuter said the investment will see new materials and products built on sustainability principles.

“Boral is at the forefront of low-carbon concrete development,” he said.

“This Australian research collaboration will see Boral develop an ultra-sustainable concrete that will be the first product of its kind and will lead the way in reducing the carbon footprint of concrete production, domestically and internationally.”

The Central Services function of the SmartCrete CRC has been prioritised to provide the most efficient environment for innovative research and to optimise the funding directed to industry led research programs.

In a series of “Fast Start” projects SmartCrete CRC aims to deliver research-based industry outcomes within the first 18 months of operations.

Research Director Simon Martin Clark has worked with the partner organisations to progress the “Fast Start” and “Round 1” EOI project development processes.

Six “Fast Start” projects were submitted for evaluation and they will progress through the selection process for subsequent funding in the second half of the year.

The Round 1 EOI process also generated a significant number of substantial projects with submissions ending in late July. These projects will be evaluated for funding in the coming months.

Over the next few weeks there will be a series of additional webinars designed to support teams to identify opportunities for improvement with the industrial partners and subsequently develop a scope of work within their projects with attention to a specific commercial outcome.

Plans are well underway for the recruitment of SmartCrete's full time CEO and the selection of a skills-based board in preparation for the first AGM in the last quarter of this year.

Other activities in the governance area include the development of a suite of core business policies to guide the business over the next seven years.

More than five million glass bottles, 270 kilograms of plastic, thousands of tonnes of used concrete, road gravel and fly ash, make up 90 percent of the road.

The 250-metre stretch is just the beginning of sustainable road construction projects along the coast.

Utilising the latest innovative technology and collaborating with industry, research and council, the road was successfully completed without compromising the environment, the road quality or project costs.

New road in Wyongah with recycled materials. Photo credit: Coast Community News

Recycled glass has been finely crushed to possess pozzolanic properties; a beneficial replacement of virgin sand in trench backfills and the sub-base of the road. Recycled crushed concrete and the existing road pavement makes up the road base itself.

Meanwhile, the kerb, guttering, and footpath use ‘green concrete’ made from fly ash, the by-product of coal-fired power plants and waste-glass sand. The reinforcement is made from recycled plastic – saving the equivalent of 50,000 bags according to Coast Community News.

Council’s Director for Roads Transport Drainage and Waste, Boris Bolgoff told Coast Community News,

“We also used the latest construction techniques to save over six thousand kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere – that’s the equivalent of a 25,000 kilometre car trip,” he said.

A big win for the Central Coast and construction industry in driving Australia’s future towards a sustainable and circular economy.

Latrobe City Council granted Latrobe Magnesium with the $50 million investment to the region.

Turning a waste product into a valuable commodity, Latrobe Magnesium produces magnesium from fly ash – a by-product of coal combustion. The process involves extracting minerals first and blending a range of products including fly ash into a feedstock for its smelter.

The smelter is heated to 1,200 degrees Celsius and the magnesium is vacuumed into a magnesium crown. The residual product is what LMG describes as its Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM).

Magnesium crown after smelter process photograph from Latrobe Magnesium

The approved plan to operate a 3,000 tonne-per-annum magnesium smelter satisfies noise, traffic, air and emissions standards.        

Latrobe Magnesium Chief Executive Officer David Paterson said reducing the environmental impact of the magnesium process separates the company from other industry practices.

“Latrobe Magnesium’s emissions profile is some 50% less than the industry average in its production of Magnesium and SCM,” he said.

According to Latrobe Valley Express, the trial plant will operate for 18 months and provide 53 permanent jobs before upscaling its operation to process 40,000 tonnes of magnesium.

Paterson said national and international markets will benefit from the magnesium manufacturing.

“Australia does not have a Magnesium producer and neither does Japan & EU. USA only have one and it is a critical raw material in all these companies.

“This reliance is becoming more important with the increased use of aluminium sheet for light weighting in cars - reducing CO2 emissions.”

With a focus on reducing clinker in cement compositions and therefore consumption of natural resources, INSEE plans to reduce the cost for the industry and largely, the environment. 

The company makes use of pozzolans and industry by-products including fly ash and steel slag to substitute clinker in cement production. The clinker component is controlled to avoid compromising product quality and instead, improve the product performance including durability and anti-corrosion. This results in more efficient usage of non-renewable raw materials and a lowering of CO2 emissions by at least 24 per cent per tonne of cement produced.

In addition, to eliminate approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year INSEE Vietnam are utilising waste heat from its kiln coolers to generate power to offset a portion of power purchased from the grid.  

Non-hazardous industrial waste is the second highest waste stream ending up in landfill. To further improve industry waste management systems and enhance their sustainable development strategy, INSEE's waste management branch Ecocycle uses co-processing in cement kilns. Treated waste can then be used as an alternative to traditional fuel in cement production. This process has safely treated approximately 1.2 million tonnes of waste, which has reduced one million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. 

NASA’s goal to send astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole by 2024 has spurred rapid exploration into construction materials that would make a suitable moon base. The study aims to find the combination of material that will protect the astronauts from radiation and extreme temperatures ranging from -22 degrees Celsius to -191 degrees Celsius, whilst being as resourceful as possible. The one chemical composition that came out on top meeting all criteria was urine!

The research published in the Journal of Cleaner Production revealed that when moon dust, known as regolith, was mixed with astronaut urine, a malleable and sustainable concrete mixture was achieved. When these materials were mixed with 3D printers, the potential for building optimal moon bases were enhanced.

The second most abundant component in urine (after water), is urea. It’s a molecule that can break hydrogen bonds and therefore reduce the viscosities of fluid mixtures. It reduces the need for water in cement mixes and as it is readily available wherever humans are located, the research indicates it is a promising by-product for space exploration.

When tested whether urea could be used as a plasticizer in the concrete, in comparison to naphthalene and polycarboxylate, the urea mixture produced the strongest results. When extruded out of a 3D printer, the urea and regolith geopolymer mixture proved it was more malleable before hardening into a final, sturdy shape fit for human habitation.

a fresh sample could be easily molded and retained its shape with weights up to 10 times its own on top of it. Credit: ESA–S. Pilehvar

The test involved using a material similar to regolith, developed by the European Space Agency, mixing it with urea and transferring it into cylinders via a 3D printer. Samples were tested to see if they could handle weight loads and were subject to an environment simulating the sharp temperature changes on the Moon.

A high-pressure syringe pump was used for 3D-printing the samples. Credit: ESA–S. Pilehvar

The ability to use only materials available on site – an approach known in the space arena as In-Situ Resource Utilisation is a prominent result from the study as it will reduce the need for launching supplies from Earth.

A follow up topic the team of researchers want to address is how basalt fibres from the Moon may be used to reinforce the concrete.

The geography of global supply chains is a complex and important issue for Australian businesses seeking to move downstream in battery industries.

The Perth USAsia Centre report The governance of battery value chains: Security, Sustainability and Australian Policy Options, investigates existing battery value chain governance, security and sustainability, and identify economic opportunities for Australia within that framework.  

It focuses on how Australia can enhance its role in the global battery industry by reviewing the industrial geography of the industry, and the role of mineral and materials production in shaping contemporary value chains. 

It also considers the governance challenges facing battery production, including political and economic risks to supply security alongside social and environmental difficulties in achieving sustainability, from which governments and industry can consider policy and investment options respectively to grow Australia’s participation.

Advanced battery technology will become more important as Australia invests in renewable energy storage in its power grids.  

This reinforces the importance of Australian industry being as integrated as possible into the battery supply chain, which in turn improves the country’s resilience to future global-scale disruptions.

The finding of the scene-setting research project will also be utilised to inform and shape the scope of one of the FBICRC’s flagship research project around ethically sourced, high-grade battery material provenance authentication for the next generation battery supply market, and our research agenda more broadly.

A short interview with Research Director Dr Jeffrey Wilson can be viewed here.

Two further scene setting projects commissioned by FBICRC - The feasibility of a Western Australian cathode precursor industry and The state of play of Australian battery industries in 2019, will be available soon.  

These scene setting projects will provide direction and inform the investment by the CRC and its participants in research and development activities which can grow Australia’s battery industries.

As a partner in the FBICRC, the Australasian Pozzolan Association is excited to be at the forefront of the global battery revolution. With a growing demand for batteries, the development of industry expertise in targeted research projects is critical in optimising Australia’s economic, environmental and global opportunities.

The national Headquarters is in Perth, Western Australia and the calibre of projects will lead a six-year research and development program placing Australia in a unique position. The program will target all segments of the battery value chain and harness a circular economy approach from resources extraction, through processing, battery production, deployment and reuse/recycling.

The FBICRC has three interdependent streams:
- Industry Development
- Resources, Processing and Recycling
- Manufacturing, Testing and Deployment.
Within these streams there are five research themes. A full list of these themes to be developed in research projects can be found by clicking on each stream.

SmartCrete CRC is a collaboration of asset owners, industry, small-medium enterprises, the supply chain and academic community which will work to step change the Australian concrete industry. SmartCrete will implement four key enablers for industry competitiveness; (1) an innovation interface with regulators/standards bodies, (2) skills and training development, (3) risk mitigation performance testing and (4) new products and processes across Australia.

As an active partner in the CRC, the Association will collaborate with industry partners, government, end users and academic researchers to establish innovative, purpose driven projects that move beyond the laboratory into industrial scale.

With our members support we are contributing to the development of targeted research which will enable a deeper understanding and further representation of the beneficial use of natural and manufactured pozzolans.

SmartCrete CRC has three (3) thematic areas, Program 1 - Engineering Solutions, Program 2 – Asset Management and Program 3 - Sustainability, Environmental and Disposal.

The research projects of interest are in the following areas:

Engineering solutions

- accelerated standards development for innovation
- new materials for concrete durability
- construction and maintenance processes

Sustainability, environmental and disposal
- circular economy
- specification for new improved performance materials
- supply chain optimisation
- supply chain quantification
- reduction of carbon footprint

The Association has highlighted the specific projects within these topics that are of interest in the PDF below.

The industry-led SmartCrete CRC has generated a further $69 million in cash and in-kind contributions from industry and researchers. Since 2013, the Government has committed $1.1 billion to support the establishment of 30 CRCs, with industry and research partners contributing $3.4 billion in cash and in-kind contributions.

With $90 million worth of resources, the concrete sector will see major opportunitunities over the next seven years.

Among the goals of the newly awarded funding is to improve infrastructure productivity through reduced cost of concrete construction, improve durability and expand on the competitiveness and sustainability of Australian industries. 

Minister Andrews said the SmartCrete CRC also had the potential to drive down costs significantly without compromising safety or quality.

“Concrete is so essential to our building industry and public infrastructure projects that even small savings and increases in productivity can make a massive difference,” Minister Andrews said.

“It will allow us to get more bang for our buck, which is so important for the productivity and sustainability of Australian industries.”

This funding will facilitate one of Australia's most significant collaborative research efforts into the concrete industry. 

For more information call (02) 9850 8426 or email info@smartcretecrc.com.au.

The FBICRC has reached a significant milestone, moving beyond its establishment phase and into foundational program and project development. The combination of cash and in-kind support is expected to unlock $31 million of State and Federal government funding over the next five years.

The Curtin University headquartered centre will focus on three areas: 
- minerals processing and recycling
- battery testing, manufacture and deployment
- exploring policy settings and industry initiatives that could promote the growth of the industry.

A pilot plan facility that will be repurposed to produce cathode precursor will see the next stage of the battery value chain in addition to the current processing plants in WA: lithium hydroxide plants developed by Tianqi and Albemarle and a nickel sulphate plant developed by BHP.

Check out the Future Batteries Industries Co-operative Research Centre website here.

Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) is an innovative technology that blends existing soils with cement grout creating ‘soil-crete’ columns underground. A research paper published on the Civil Engineering Journal identifies pozzolans and filler materials as possible supplements to DSM's predominant binders; Portland cement and Lime.

Mixing soil with a binder such as cement, fly ash or lime can enhance soil properties including strength, stability and stiffness. However, the inclusion of pozzolans including fly ash, silica fume, slag, rice husk ash, kaolin and metakaolin in treated soil strength also prove effective, low cost and sustainable.

The paper explains the binder reaction process and the potential to supplement or substitute traditional binders. Optimum percentage of the pozzolan was determined where improved strength peaked. As a result, the paper states “Aluminosilicate pozzolans perform better over siliceous pozzolans with Metakaolin (MK) identified as the most effective pozzolan for enhancing compressive strength.”

View the pozzolan test summaries here.