PIONEERING CHANGE

Donal O'Riain Business Development Manager Ecocem

The first business in Europe to have sold the first green cement, Donal O’Riain tells Niamh MacSweeney how an Irish company are at the forefront of a ground-breaking initiative that could transform the cement industry in Europe.

Ecocem Ireland produces ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS), which translates to ‘green cement’. An Irish company set up in 2004, Ecocem’s environmentally friendly cement is a by-product of steel making. Its manufacture saves energy, CO2 and other emissions when compared to the manufacture of ordinary cement and is considered an environmentally friendly, competitive alternative to concrete.

Changing the Mindset

Getting the product to market and finding people who would buy into this new product was not without its challenges. Donal O’Riain, founder of Ecocem, agrees and says it was more risky and challenging than taking over an existing product. “We had to put a great deal of time and effort into educating the market and getting people to understand why the product was different and how the product could enable them to use quality concrete,” he says. O’Riain decided that Ecocems mission would be to educate and change the habits of a life time in concrete manufacturing and to expand and embrace new and attractive possibilities.

He is adamant that confidence in the product is paramount and this assurance in the product is clearly evident when he explains that Ecocem is providing something that “out-performs anything else like it on the market”. He says they are able to sell their green cement at a price that is more competitive and while the concrete industry tends to move ‘cautiously’ to change, he has no problem being at the fore of this innovative product. Selling 90% capacity is obviously very pleasing to O’Riain. “We believe that the product is capable of further development and expansion in the market and we continue to work very strongly to continue with our promotional efforts around the product. In three years we have moved from no presence at all in the market to having a very satisfactory and very satisfying presence in the market,” he says.

Preventing Pollution

O’Riain believes the technology the construction industry uses, commits it to using a product that is very polluting and that they are slow to accept their responsibilities. He argues that the industry will have to change and although this may cost money and effort, limiting the effects is the first step in leading the way to tackling climate change. He maintains that GGBS offers considerable environmental advantages over Portland cement and has a significantly reduced the negative impact on the environment.

O’Riain says that although they have received support from the Office of Public Works (OPW) who announced last year they would give preferential consideration to green cement, he argues that the slow response by the Department of the Environment was poor. “In terms of how quickly they responded was disappointing. I think they have now caught up and are actively supporting the use of our product across the local authorities in Ireland,” he says. However, he maintains the cement industry is allowed to operate as usual, removing any obligation for them to reduce CO2 emissions. “I think there is tremendous public awareness of the need to reduce CO2 emissions. The public, if it is confronted with choices - the same value for money with the satisfaction that it is making a real contribution to reducing global warming - then the public will prefer those options. I think the speculative industry has a learning curve to overcome in the next few years to fully exploit that advantage,” O’Riain argues.

Meeting Demand

He is optimistic that green cement is a product that will be in greater demand in construction markets not just in Ireland but across Europe as well. “We are looking at ways to satisfy that demand either using our existing technology or using other technologies that will allow us to use good quality but environmentally friendly cements,” he says. Ecocem have a development effort under way, which they think will allow them to offer other possibilities to the market in the coming years. “We see scope to develop because we think that for example in the Irish market we could double our capacity,” O’Riain concludes.