CEMEX Ventures, CEMEX’s Corporate Venture Capital and open innovation unit, announced its investment in Arqlite SPC, a US company based in California. Arqlite SPC processes unrecyclable plastic waste into artificial gravel avoiding the use of natural quarry aggregates and boulders in the production of light concrete with a low CO2 footprint and for installing drainage beds for construction and landscaping. CEMEX Ventures’ new alliance with Arqlite SPC offers an innovative solution around the construction industry’s circular economy: it gives a second life to plastic and reduces the carbon footprint and operating costs of handling and producing construction materials such as aggregates and concrete.

Arqlite SPC began its research and development process in Argentina in 2016. It has developed an innovative technology that allows most of the plastic waste to be recycled instead of disposal at a landfill or polluting the environment. The light aggregates it produces represent a significant advance in sustainable construction, multiplying thermal and acoustic insulation by ten times compared to mineral aggregates and offering better construction quality and higher energy conservation. The aggregate is three times lighter than stone, making it excellent for low CO2 concrete that is also intended to reduce required structural supports and to significantly lower transportation costs. The low thermal conductivity of plastic reduces its reaction to extreme temperature variations and, therefore, the possibility of fracturing or altering the concrete mix.

One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, and 500 billion plastic bags are used annually. Also, eight million tons end up in oceans every year, threatening marine life. Thus, CEMEX Ventures and Arqlite SPC bet on a low-cost technological solution, capable of processing the vast majority of plastic waste as raw material. Due mainly to the lack of environmental awareness and existing technical limitations, it is estimated that only 7% of the 300 million tons of plastic waste generated is finally recycled.

This investment by CEMEX Ventures is part of CEMEX’s ambition to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete to all of its customers globally by 2050, as this solution uses practically all types of plastics as raw material, preventing them from ending up in landfills or unsustainable destinations. Find out more at: https://www.cemex.com/media/press-releases