Ecocem, Europe’s leading provider of low-carbon cement technologies, today announces the opening of its new Research and Innovation (R&I) centre in France. The centre represents a significant investment in innovation and will play a key role in Ecocem’s strategy to deliver decarbonisation solutions to the cement and concrete industries.
Costing over €10M, the 3300m2 facility reinforces Ecocem’s commitment to science-based disruption, and its focus on developing and delivering low-carbon cement technologies capable of using a range of alternative SCMs (supplementary cementitious materials) and mineral additions to replace clinker, the carbon-intensive component in cement which is responsible for over 90% of its emissions.
By enabling further cement decarbonisation beyond the 70% already achievable with Ecocem’s ACT technology, the centre will support Ecocem’s ambition to provide the cement industry with the means to reach net zero by 2040, ten years ahead of global targets, and without reliance on carbon capture.
Donal O’Riain, Founder and Global Managing Director of Ecocem said: “For 25 years Ecocem has focused exclusively on low-carbon cement technologies. With ACT, our scalable low-carbon cement technology close to commercial availability, the new centre will allow us to go further and faster. We will build on the 18 million tonnes of CO₂ reductions already achieved and accelerate the development of solutions that can deliver net zero cement by 2040, 10 years ahead of schedule. What is needed now is widespread adoption available low-carbon cement technologies by the cement industry of which will allow it to become the first industrial sector to achieve a 1.5C decarbonisation trajectory.”
Led by Roberta Alfani, Ecocem’s in-house Research and Innovation team consists of 30 highly qualified engineers and technicians with multidisciplinary backgrounds and of more than 10 nationalities. Their focus is on developing new low-carbon cements and technologies for industrial mortars, concretes, and exploring innovative solutions in building chemistry. Work carried out at the new facility will inform industry standards, support collaborations with partners across construction and infrastructure, and underpin Ecocem’s ambition to deliver solutions for a 90% reduction in global cement emissions by 2030, without additional cost.
Commenting on the new Research and Innovation centre Roberta said: “Our new Research and Innovation centre which focuses on the high-efficiency usage of a wide range of existing and new cementitious materials and the development of low-carbon cements and technologies, is one of the most complete development laboratories in the global cement industry. It will accelerate our ability to develop a range of low-carbon materials and work with academics and partners to test and trial new solutions. We look forward to working with the industry to accelerate adoption of a range of low-carbon solutions.”
The new centre was officially unveiled this week by Niall Burgess, Ambassador of Ireland to France and Monaco, who said: “Ecocem represents the best of Franco-Irish companies and is a symbol of industrial collaboration between our two countries, as a company born in Ireland and now deeply rooted in France, its largest market. An industrial pioneer, Ecocem have demonstrated long-term commitment to scaling low-carbon innovation, all the while illustrating Franco-Irish closeness, essential for a strong, more innovative and greener Europe.”
The centre also marks the latest chapter in Ecocem’s wider investment in innovation. Over the past decade, the company has committed €70M to research, development, and new facilities, ensuring its solutions can scale across global markets.
This announcement follows other recent milestones for ACT, including regulatory approvals in France, a new production plant in Dunkirk, a further €170 million investment to construct four new ACT production lines in France by 2030, industry certification in the US and partnerships with leading construction firms such as Bouygues Construction, Vinci Construction and the Titan Group.
Ecocem is a pioneer of high-performance technology that significantly reduces CO₂ emissions in the cement and construction industries. Its breakthrough low-carbon cement technology, ACT, can reduce the global carbon footprint of the traditional cement manufacturing process by more than half.
For 25 years, Ecocem has been developing, manufacturing, and supplying low-carbon cement and construction solutions to markets in Europe. It operates from plants in France (two), the Netherlands, and Ireland, with an annual production of over two million tonnes of low-carbon cement.
From Le Grand Paris Express to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, the Paris Olympic Athletes’ Village 2024, and the UK’s high-speed railway HS2, Ecocem has achieved a cumulative reduction of 18 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions to date – equivalent to the amount absorbed annually by over 800 million trees.
Investors in Ecocem include Saint-Gobain Group, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and ArcelorMittal.
In 2025, Ecocem announced investments totalling over €220 million in new production capacity and R&I facilities to accelerate the commercialisation of ACT and support its Beyond Clinker strategy.
In February 2025, Ecocem announced an investment of €50 million to build its first production facility dedicated to ACT at its Dunkirk site, increasing production capacity to over 1 million tons per year by 2026.
As part of a consortium of Europe’s leading academic and industrial leaders, Ecocem was awarded €4 million in research funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The grant comes as part of the EIC Pathfinder Challenges 2024 and will support a programme of work which will focus on optimising the environmental compatibility of Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) slag for low-carbon cement.
In May 2025, an additional €170 million was announced to construct four new production lines in France and accelerate the delivery of ACT. An independent company with a world-class innovation centre, Ecocem technology, products, and services can help the cement industry cost-effectively decarbonize by 50% by 2030—and build a more sustainable future for all.
The consortium of Cairn, UCD, Kilsaran, and Ecocem has secured €50,000 in funding from Construct Innovate, Ireland’s national Construction Technology Centre, to validate an innovative low-carbon cement capable of significantly cutting Ireland’s CO2 emissions from the construction sector.
Tata Steel IJmuiden (TSIJ) and Ecocem Materials Ltd. (Ecocem) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their collaboration on the development and potential use of two next-generation steelmaking slags in low‑carbon cement, mortar, and concrete applications across Europe.
