Leiths

Producing 1 tonne of cement emits 840kg of C0². The production of 1 tonne of CemLime® produces just 8kg.

In the last edition of our Newsletter, Leiths News, we mentioned the production of a new limestone product that would enable significant C0² savings and reaffirm our commitment not only to quality, but to sustainability as well. We are proud to announce that this product has now been officially registered as CemLime® alongside a new globe logo which will represent all of our environmental efforts.

This locally sourced supplementary cementitious material (SCM) can replace cement content by up to 20% in concrete, producing a lower carbon cement without detriment to concrete performance.With the cement manufacturing process contributing to 8% of global C0² emissions, it’s clear to see the enormous potential CemLime® holds.

To give you some scale of our innovation, after water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. Manufacturing cement is the source of approximately 8% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions producing some 1.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest CO₂ emitter in the world.

The Minerals Product Association (MPA) published ‘Fact Sheet 18’ titled “Embodied CO₂ of UK cement, additions and cementitious material”. The document notes that to produce 1 tonne of cement emits 840kg of CO₂, whereas to produce 1 tonne of SCM emits 8kg of CO₂. It is clear to see the huge environmental benefit of using CemLime® within concrete. British Standards 8500-1: 2023 and BS 8500-2:2023 have been revised to increase the range of lower carbon concretes that can be specified and permits the use of SCM’s as cement replacements. Our limestone powder allows us to produce cement type CIIA-LL. This has cleared the path for us to introduce CemLime® into our concrete plants in Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William.

We are pleased to report that CemLime is already making an impact. It has been fully certified with all required bodies, and is being used in different mixes at our quarries at Midlairgs, Blackhills, Lochhills and Fort William. We have also engaged with many external customers who are seeing how Leiths can help them achieve their environmental goals, with no impact on performance for their operations. We have secured supply with one of these companies, an oil services provider that provides materials for drying up expended drilling muds. CemLime® is being added to this drying process, reducing the need for cement and shrinking their environmental impact.

We are especially proud to be at the forefront of this innovation – CemLime® is the only SCM manufactured in Scotland that can reduce the amount of cement used in the production of concrete. It is a credit to everyone involved in its inception, production, and delivery. Through our continued passion for betterment, we push the boundaries of innovation to provide our customers with greener solutions. We want to be leaders in new technologies and work tirelessly to deliver a healthier future for our generation and generations to follow.

The success of CemLime® has only motivated us further on our journey of achieving a brighter, cleaner future. Where we can make the grey a little greener and secure the long-term sustainability of industry through great ideas and hard work. Our vision of providing Green Technology Solutions to reduce the carbon impact of our industry is not just a platitude but an achievable business objective for Leiths.