200 tons of CO₂ removed in first three months of operation – new record!

Since September 2023, neustark's storage technology has been integrated into Swiss concrete recycler and producer Möckli Beton AG's production process. And have been permanently storing tons and tons of CO₂ every day since the plant went into operation.

We developed and installed the tech at Möckli's recycling site in the beautiful canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. And as some technical terms are not always easy to understand, let's look at some numbers to break down the successful collaboration:

1 = The plant at Möckli Beton AG is our first box-type storage plant in operation. The material box is a complimentary addition to our existing product range of silo systems, row dosing systems and mobile storage systems. The technology is the same, only the demolition material is filled and treated in a box instead of a silo. This is an easier add-on for recyclers such as Möckli already storing material in boxes, as we then can simply upgrade the existing boxes to fit our technology.

10 = It was our tenth CO₂ storage plant launched! And also one of the largest to date. In the meantime, we have 14 capture and storage facilities in operation (as of December 2023); these have a total storage capacity of around 5,000 tons of CO₂ per year. A further 20+ plants are currently under construction in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, and the UK, with many more in the pipeline.

1,000 = This is the CO₂ storage capacity of the material box. That means: every year, the plant can store and thus permanently remove up to 1000 tons of CO₂ that we captured at point source in demolition concrete during its recycling process.

The storage sites has been running at full speed almost every day since it was launched in September 2023. In the first three months of operation, the Möckli team have already stored 200 tons of CO₂ – that's a new record!

Of course, we were keen to find out how they did it, so talked to Chris Möckli, Möckli Beton AG's managing director, to get more details:

Neustark's first box-type CO₂ storage system at the Möckli Beton AG plant in Eschenz, Switzerland

3 questions to Chris Möckli, managing director of Möckli Beton AG

Chris Möckli, you reached the milestone of removing 200 tons of CO₂ after just three months of operating the new technology at your recycling site. Of all construction and demolition waste recyclers using our tech, you have stored the most CO₂ in this short period since launch. Can you tell us your secret?

Chris Möckli: The answer is simple: we carbonate all recycling material* that passes through our treatment process. So all the demolition waste that we process at our plant is filled into the material box, where the demolition concrete granulate is injected with CO₂, thus triggering the mineralization process and binding the CO₂ permanently to the granules. That's why we're not really surprised by the amount of CO₂ that we've already stored!

*To produce recycled building materials, all demolition material that can easily be recycled and reused several times can be utilized. In this context, recycled material includes building materials such as concrete demolition, mixed demolition and materials from road demolition. Once the mineral construction and demolition waste has been processed, the recycled building materials are considered secondary raw materials and can be reused for both structural and civil engineering (e.g. to build roads, buildings or produce recycled concrete).

Why did you decide to work with neustark?

Chris Möckli: A few years ago, we decided to process demolition concrete and mixed demolition waste granules by using an innovative process. The 'NovoCon concrete' which is produced by using this process is already established and the demand for such eco-friendly concrete is growing steadily, also due to its good quality. By integrating the CO₂ storage process, we can now produce NovoCon concrete even more sustainably and by using the latest technology. It has also enabled us to achieve a slight improvement in quality of the product.

NovoCon concrete is a type of recycled concrete in which – instead of gravel – demolition material is used during its production. This means that almost all of the demolition material gathered at a demolition can be reused. This helps to conserve natural gravel reserves and, thanks to neustark's integrated mineralization process, atmospheric CO₂ is also stored in the demolition material. This not only reduces emissions during the production process of the recycled concrete, but also removes CO₂ from the atmosphere – neustark's focus.

Möckli Beton AG has already produced over 500,000m3 of NovoCon concrete. Thus, the potential for storing thousands and thousands of tons of CO₂ is enormous.

Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, analyzed the material properties of the demolition granules treated with the neustark process. The results were consistently positive: in addition to the permanent storage of CO₂, the mineralization process also increases the strength of the recycled concrete produced compared to non-carbonated recycled concrete. This means that the cement content in the recycled concrete can be significantly reduced.

And how did your customers and partners react to this innovation?

Chris Möckli: Very positively. Generally speaking, there is a great level of interest among customers for permanent storage of CO₂ in demolition waste, and for our end product, eco-friendlier concrete. We certainly see that sustainable concrete is in demand from clients, planners and building contractors.

At the end of the day, if the price-performance ratio is right and there is no need to compromise on quality, everyone is happy.

Chris Möckli at his facility in Eschenz in the canton of Thurgau (Switzerland). (Image: pad)

More than just CO₂ storage

Thanks to Chris Möckli for his insights and his drive to make the building industry more innovative and sustainable!

By the way: The biogenic CO₂ that Möckli Beton AG stores every day stems from the ARA Region Bern biogas facility. The CO₂ – which would otherwise we emitted into the atmosphere – is separated directly at the plant during the biogas production process and captured by neustark. We then liquefy and transport it to our storage partners. We always make sure that the CO₂ source and the CO₂ storage facility are as close to each other as possible to avoid long transport routes. Chris Möckli will soon be receiving the CO₂ from a source that is even closer to his storage facility...

With the help of neustark's technology, building material recyclers can not only store CO₂, but also permanently remove it from the atmosphere. A win-win-win for all partners: recyclers, neustark, and, ultimately, our planet.