Jean Zeid 06:53, March 28, 2024
Every morning, Jean Zeid delivers the best in terms of innovation. This Thursday, he returns to the initiative of the Materrup company which wants to act for impactful construction.
This Thursday morning, we make cement from clay.
Innovation comes to us from the Landes. Originally, there were two brothers: Mathieu and Charles Neuville. One is an engineer, the other a banker. Two rooms, two atmospheres, and yet, the first is quickly interested in the specificities of raw clay in the building while the second is eyeing sustainable finance. It matches. In 2018, they founded Materrup with a credo: “act immediately for impactful construction”.
They already have their factory anyway.
Their factory was created in Saint-Geours in the Landes with the aim of producing clay-based cement. 'Cement, necessary for the manufacture of concrete, is the second most consumed product in the world after water. Except that at the same time, it is one of the biggest emitters of CO2. 7% of global CO2 emissions each year. The cause: the fossil fuels necessary for the cooking phase and which release carbon. Hence the idea of the two brothers to develop a cement based on raw clay and above all with the same performance as conventional:
Where does he find this clay?
Materrup didn't look very far to find the clay. It comes from Landes lands and waste. The company does not extract this resource, it recovers unsuitable clay from a tile manufacturer, called Edilians, and whose quarry is located 18 kilometers away, it adds 30% of components in its cement plant, cement plant which has neither fireplace nor oven. Everything is done cold with local and recycled materials. And so here we are with cement made from clay which, according to its designers, would be half as energy-intensive and polluting as that made traditionally. A recipe protected by around forty international patents.
And is it also durable?
This clay cement has been tested, we are told, in extreme conditions and yes, it is just as strong and durable as conventional cement. It is therefore substitutable to make concrete used in 80% of market uses. We will not make 60-story buildings with it for the moment, but can smooth or trowel it as desired to create exterior slabs or cycle paths. And budgetarily, it doesn't cost more. Materrup which plans to open five other production sites in France this year. Around twenty production sites could emerge in the years to come.