3 successful years of “Green Challenge”

Three years ago, dear readers, we launched our new “Green Challenge” column, which recognizes the special efforts of companies, associations, and research institutes in the area of sustainability. Including this issue, we have now covered the topic 16 times in the magazine, and the list of participants is equally impressive. We began with seven articles, including a profile of the Swiss company Neustark, which has brought a solution for the permanent storage of biogenic CO₂ in recycled mineral waste – such as demolition concrete – to market readiness, as well as a report on the Weber concrete plant in Ippesheim, which is breaking new ground through the use of energy-saving thermo-concrete mats. This was followed by another highlight: the high-performance ultrasonic premixing plant developed by Sonocrete (Cottbus), which can reduce CO₂ emissions in concrete production by up to 30% - crowned by winning the Supplier Industry Innovation Award at the 2024 BetonTage.

Many other projects and products were presented, among other places, at the 70th BetonTage in March of this year in Ulm and at the 25th BIBM Congress in May in Rome. Due to space constraints, we unfortunately cannot present all of the outstanding innovations here, but allow me to mention one more: just at the beginning of June, I visited Oliment GmbH in Rötha near Leipzig on the occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony for an experimental building that is to be constructed using the CO₂-neutral binder Oliment instead of cement. The significance of this new development was evident not least from the large number of visitors from the worlds of politics, business, and science, including Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer (see also report on pp. 20-21).

Much enjoyment in reading this issue wishes you

Yours

Silvio Schade