Ridgehill Minerals leads collaboration with S:t Eriks, Sweden's leading manufacturer of concrete and natural stone products, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the production of concrete products

Ridgehill Minerals AB begins an innovative collaboration with S:t Eriks, Sweden's leading manufacturer and supplier of concrete and natural stone products. The collaboration began in the spring of 2024 with the goal of developing Ridgehill Minerals' product Yalite, a new alternative binder for concrete that replaces today's traditional lime-based cement.

- We work actively to reduce carbon dioxide emissions within the concrete industry. The collaboration with S:t Eriks is important to us as we get access to their advanced factory with associated concrete laboratory at the same time as S:t Eriks gets the opportunity to carry out in-depth tests of our alternative binder Yalite, says Robin Petterson, CEO and co-founder of Ridgehill Minerals.

Tests and sampling of Yalite, based on volcanic ash from Greece, are underway in St. Erik's facility in Vara, 10 miles north of Gothenburg, with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the production phase by at least 40 percent compared to traditional cement.

- We work hard to reduce our climate footprint and finding alternative binders is an important area. This is an exciting material and we are eagerly awaiting the test results, says Therese Kvarnström, Head of Sustainability, St: Eriks.

Yalite is produced in Trollhättan where the volcanic ash is ground into a fine powder. The work with tests and sampling is ongoing in St. Erik's facility with the hope that a new concrete recipe can be ready within the coming months.

- We carry out ongoing tests and sampling of Yalite in order to produce a long-term sustainable adhesive for the Swedish market. With the collaboration, we can speed up our and the concrete industry's overall goal of putting climate-neutral concrete on the market in 2030, says Robin Pettersson.

Yalite is a natural pozzolan with a carbon footprint of 50-70kg/ton compared to traditional cement's footprint of 800kg/ton. The volcanic ash in Yalite has reactive properties similar to cement used as a binder in the production of concrete. With Yalite, the traditional cement is replaced with volcanic ash, which greatly reduces carbon dioxide emissions.