Recycled cement made in steelworks' electric furnaces
Recover cement paste from demolition concrete and re-fire it in steelworks' arc furnaces, without a cement kiln.
Sources checked on 24 October 2026
Summary Free
In May 2024, Cambridge researchers showed in Nature that old cement, used instead of lime in a steelworks' electric furnace, comes out as fresh clinker. Their spin-off, Cambridge Electric Cement (now Reclinker), raised £2.25M in July 2024 and ran trials at the Materials Processing Institute. Cement falls under the EU carbon market and the carbon border adjustment mechanism. The idea: in France or Europe, connect concrete recyclers and electric steelworks to produce this recycled cement at scale.
The technology
In an electric arc furnace, lime is added to protect the steel and forms a slag. The process replaces that lime with used cement paste: the rapidly cooled slag has the make-up of Portland cement clinker. The electricity can be renewable.
New sector and target customers
Electric steelworks, cement makers, concrete recyclers and demolition firms, construction companies and ready-mix producers.
Main source
Electric recycling of Portland cement at scale
Nature · 22 May 2024
Verified competitors
Reclinker (ex-Cambridge Electric Cement), Ecocem, Material Evolution, Sublime Systems
Opportunity window Free
Is now the right time to start? A score out of 100, based on 5 criteria.
- Technology maturity (TRL)
- Regulatory tailwind
- Open funding calls
- Competitor and investor activity
- Market timing
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Each criterion is rated from 1 to 5, then weighted. Score = sum of weight × (rating − 1) / 4, rounded.
- Technology maturity (TRL) (weight 25): The closer the technology is to a product (high TRL), the higher the rating.
- Regulatory tailwind (weight 20): A law or standard that creates demand raises the rating; a long approval process lowers it.
- Open funding calls (weight 15): Number of open or upcoming calls with a deadline in the next 12 months (the idea's "Funding calls" list).
- Competitor and investor activity (weight 20): Competitors raising money show that investors believe in the field: the rating is high. Little activity: the rating is low.
- Market timing (weight 20): A recent signal (first customer, first plant, incident) showing that the market is moving now.
The 5 levels: Wide-open window (From 80) · Open window (From 65) · Medium window (From 50) · Narrow window (From 35) · Closed window (From 0)
Editorial assessment by DeepTechBusinessLab, not investment advice. Criteria marked “To be verified” rely on thin evidence.
Open funding calls and grants
5 funding call(s) match this idea. Next deadline: 4 November 2026 (in 5 days).
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Starter kit
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Kit checked on 24 October 2026
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Dated events that change how this idea reads, with their source.
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Idea file created
Independent information, not investment advice. TRL levels and budgets are estimates to be validated.
