Etex and Heidelberg Materials have joined forces on CEMLOOP XL, an EU-backed industrial-scale project designed to deliver the first fully circular solution for fibre cement. Co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme, the initiative combines cutting-edge recycling and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies to significantly reduce the environmental impact of cement production.
Through the project, Etex and Heidelberg Materials aim to close the loop on fibre cement by transforming waste material into a high-quality secondary raw material that can replace clinker in low-carbon cement. The partnership marks a major advance in the shift toward circular construction and carbon-neutral manufacturing.
Etex, in collaboration with the Jacobs Group, is developing a new recycling process to convert fibre cement waste from production lines and the wider construction sector into recycled fibre cement paste (RFCP). A new facility is under construction in Hemiksem, Belgium, and is expected to be operational by mid-2026.
At its Lixhe plant in Liège, Heidelberg Materials is pioneering the CCLIX process, which upgrades RFCP through enforced carbonation using CO2 captured from kiln exhaust gases. The result—carbonated RFCP (cRFCP)—regains cementitious properties and can be reused to produce new, lower-carbon fibre cement products. A dedicated carbonation reactor is due to be commissioned by 2028.
The environmental benefits are substantial: the project will prevent 60,000t of fibre cement waste annually, save 100,000 tonnes of limestone, cut CO2 emissions by at least 20 per cent, and reduce energy use by 15 per cent.
“This is a significant step toward new generations of sustainable cements,” said Serge Montagne, Technical Director at Heidelberg Materials Benelux. Etex’s Chief Innovation Officer Eric Bertrand added: “For the first time, fibre cement will follow a fully circular journey—proof that innovation and sustainability can go hand in hand.”
