University of Strathclyde spinout Ureaka turns waste concrete into carbon-negative cement replacement

A new spinout from the University of Strathclyde called Ureaka is developing a process that turns low-value mineral waste into carbon-negative materials that can replace part of the cement used in construction. The approach combines circular chemistry with mineral processing to create supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from waste streams like demolished concrete. These SCMs are designed as a drop-in powder for standard concrete mixes, letting manufacturers cut emissions without changing their production lines. Cement and concrete production account for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. Ureaka's process recovers calcium and silica from waste and reacts them with captured CO2 to form stable carbonate minerals, locking carbon into solid form. The company is now moving from lab to factory-scale modelling and seeking seed funding for third-party testing in live manufacturing environments. If successful, this could offer a lower-cost route to lower-carbon concrete at scale.