New Product from Cemix Reduces Construction Waste

A new locally made building product has been launched to try and reduce the 165,000 tonnes of concrete dumped in New Zealand landfills each year.

Auckland company Cemix has developed a new product to provide an environmentally friendly option for home DIY Kiwis and tradesmen alike. Envirocrete is a blended concrete mix which contains 50% recycled materials, including recycled concrete, fly ash (a post-industrial byproduct) and cement.

Managing director of Cemix, Bhav Dhillon, says Envirocrete is a more sustainable concrete choice for home renovators. “The recycled crushed concrete is a sustainable alternative to natural aggregates, which means that consumption of non-renewable resources such as riverbeds and quarries can be reduced considerably,” he says. “Any community that opts for this product will reduce their environmental footprint by cutting landfill volume and preserving non-renewable virgin aggregate.”

Mr Dhillon says that for every 1000 tonnes of Envirocrete produced, there is a reduction on landfill volume by 500 tonnes, and a further 500 tonne reduction on depletion of virgin natural non-renewable aggregate resource by the same amount.

Environmentally responsible manufacturing

Cemix is New Zealand’s leading premixed concrete and mortar manufacturer, with the widest range of bagged products available nationwide. It has been manufacturing construction products for nearly 30 years to the highest quality standards (the company’s processes are ISO 9001 certified).

Its production facility in Onehunga, Auckland, includes some of the most technologically advanced processes in the world for the production of bagged ready-mix concrete.

“Cemix is committed to sustainable practices and environmentally responsible manufacturing,” Mr Dhillon says. ‘We’re very proud to be leading the way by introducing a bagged product that is not only affordable but good for the environment too.”

Mr Dhillon says he can’t claim the credit for the product’s concept – the idea came from a product in the US that won an environmental award at the World of Concrete expo – but six months of research and development here in New Zealand paved the way for Envirocrete’s launch in September.

“It’s a renewable resource – not only are thousands of tonnes of concrete dumped in New Zealand landfills each year, but we estimate there’s around 1.6 million tonnes already buried there. We buy the waste concrete at the landfill, crush it onsite and extract the steel which we sell to the scrap merchants. The chunks of recycled concrete are then sieved so that all the powder is removed, resulting in 15– 20 mm chunks of concrete ‘rock’ that we use instead of raw aggregate, which we batch-mix here at the plant to make the Envirocrete. It’s a simple process.”

Mr Dhillon says the decision to sell Envirocrete in 15 kg bags rather than the standard 25 kg size was a conscious marketing decision. “We’re specially targeting the home handyman and the smaller tradesmen who might only want a smaller-sized bag of concrete, yet it’s still affordable – it doesn’t come with a premium price.”

Another canny decision was to partner with Bunnings stores nationwide to launch the product. “They’re an important part of the package,” Mr Dhillon says. “We’ve worked very closely with them to get this off the ground.”

Marketing manager for Bunnings, Peter Darbyshire, says that the hardware chain was impressed with the product from the outset, choosing to stock Envirocrete in stores throughout the country. “Bunnings is committed to sustainability and we look to promote environmentally friendly products and projects that support sustainable living where possible. Envirocrete fits the increased demand from our customers for sustainable products and we are delighted to be partnering with Cemix in the launch of Envirocrete to all Bunnings customers throughout the country.”

Suitable for eco-conscious builders

Cemix expects the new product to appeal to ecoconscious builders and those that care about the environment. “So much of our Crown land is inaccessible by truck that we expect the smaller bags to appeal to Department of Conservation workers that have to manually carry building products into our national parks for the construction of buildings, bridges and footpaths.”

Speaking at the launch of the product, Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith, said: “At a time of recession, the good practice of recycling from waste product can change the culture of business. I’m really happy to say that Envirocrete will have less environmental impact and reduce greenhouse emissions.”

Keep New Zealand Beautiful national programmes manager, Mary Brown, said: “Brilliant ideas such as this show a leading commitment to the longevity of our beautiful environment; this is a huge step forward in ensuring we’re not wasting valuable resources that don’t need to be landfilled.”

For further information, visit www.cemix.co.nz