The Czech Republic faces a sharp decline in the availability of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as coal-fired power plants close, according to the Association for Alternative Building Materials (ASAM).
ASAM president Pavel Sokol said the phase-out of thermal power generation will significantly reduce supplies of fly ash, slag and gypsum—key inputs for cement, concrete and plasterboard production. Total output of these energy by-products reached around 7.5Mt in 2025 but could fall to just 8 per cent of that level by 2030–31.
The decline is expected to begin with the closure of the Pocerady power plant and intensify as further facilities shut down by 2033. ASAM warned that shortages of these materials could raise construction costs and constrain infrastructure development.
The association, which represents industrial and academic stakeholders focused on the use of secondary raw materials in construction, said that tens of millions of tonnes of suitable materials remain stored in legacy stockpiles. However, regulatory barriers continue to limit their reuse.
ASAM has called on the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade to clarify the legal framework governing these stockpiles and establish permitting procedures to enable their reintroduction into industrial use. It estimates the value of these materials at tens of billions of Czech crowns.
