Boral has reached a major milestone in developing a low-carbon concrete made with Australian calcined clay, becoming the first company in the country to achieve this outcome.
The breakthrough marks a significant advancement in sustainable construction materials, offering a pathway to lower emissions in concrete production and infrastructure projects.
The development follows several years of laboratory research and large-scale field testing, confirming the viability of calcined clay as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM).
The initiative builds on technical feasibility studies that Boral began in 2024 in collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Transport for NSW and Calix, under a project supported by SmartCrete CRC.
The CRC’s work is jointly funded by its partners and the federal government.
The project also drew upon earlier studies carried out by Boral and UTS between 2020 and 2024, paving the way for the successful completion of product development and commercial-scale trials.
At the core of the project are new concrete formulations using binary and triple blends that replace a portion of traditional cement with calcined clay.
Tested under real-world operating conditions at Boral’s cement facility in Maldon, these mixes demonstrated workability, strength and durability comparable to conventional low-carbon concrete.
Field trials followed successful customer demonstrations, including a collaboration with Victoria’s North East Link and the University of Melbourne.
For this pilot, Boral supplied a calcined clay concrete mix used in a test slab made with clay recycled from excavated soil sourced directly from the project site, a practical example of circular construction principles.
Vik Bansal, CEO and Managing Director at Boral, said: “Boral is committed to leading the transition to a lower-carbon future.
“Our calcined clay concrete is a major step forward in our innovation journey and progress towards net zero.
“This work ensures we can continue to offer sustainable solutions for Australia’s building and infrastructure needs and meet our customers’ needs.
“We are proud to be driving the next generation of low-carbon concrete for the industry.”
The company’s success represents a critical step in decarbonising one of the most emission-intensive materials in modern construction.
Cement and concrete production are responsible for about 8 per cent of global CO₂ emissions, and materials like calcined clay can significantly reduce that footprint by lowering clinker content.
Dr Ali Nezhad, Head of Sustainability and Innovation at Boral, said: “From the lab to successful field trials and product development, our work demonstrates that calcined clay concrete is not just a concept; it works at scale.
“Our field trials confirmed workability and placement and the concrete looks and performs like conventional mixes.
“In developing a range of next-generation low carbon concrete products with different blends, we are future-proofing supply and supporting the industry’s decarbonisation goals.
“We are already receiving pleasing feedback and industry interest to partner with them on trials. It’s an exciting time for innovation in construction materials.”
By successfully advancing calcined clay concrete from concept to proven product, Boral is positioning itself at the forefront of sustainable construction innovation, demonstrating that the future of infrastructure can be both high-performance and low-carbon.