INKAS® Research with Canadian Scientists Identifies Breakthrough Opportunity to Reduce Cement Emissions

TORONTO, March 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  INKAS®, in collaboration with Canadian materials scientists and industry partners, has identified a scalable method to significantly reduce cement-related emissions by reactivating waste concrete materials, positioning Canada to unlock a major climate opportunity already within its existing infrastructure cycle.

The findings highlight a timely and critical issue: Canada cannot meet its climate commitments while ignoring one of the largest sources of industrial emissions hiding in plain sight.

Cement production accounts for roughly 7–8 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, more than aviation. Every time we build a bridge, a hospital, a transit corridor, or desperately needed housing, we are also embedding significant carbon into that structure. As governments accelerate infrastructure spending, the climate cost of concrete quietly scales with it.

If we are serious about net-zero, we cannot afford to treat concrete as untouchable.

Each year, enormous volumes of demolished concrete are crushed and reused as road base or low-grade aggregate. While that keeps material out of landfill, it leaves the most carbon-intensive ingredient, cement, effectively wasted.

For decades, the assumption has been that once cement hardens, its chemical life is over. Old concrete becomes inert stone. We crush it and move on.

At INKAS®, a Canadian industrial manufacturer working in complex engineering environments, we began asking a different question: what if that assumption is wrong?

What if the cement locked inside old concrete isn’t dead, just dormant?

Working alongside Canadian materials scientists and industry partners, we focused on the fine particles generated during demolition, the portion typically considered least valuable. These fines can represent up to half of crushed concrete and are often discarded or downcycled because of weaker structural performance.

Yet these same particles contain the highest concentration of original cement.

Through advanced mechanical processing using equipment already common in Canada’s mining and cement sectors, we found that these recycled fines could be transformed into a reactive supplementary cementitious material. In practical terms, this allows up to 40 per cent of newly manufactured Portland cement to be replaced in new concrete without compromising strength or durability.

According to INKAS®’s research findings, this approach demonstrates immediate potential for large-scale emissions reduction across Canadian infrastructure projects without requiring entirely new supply chains or materials.

The environmental implications are significant.

Every tonne of Portland cement produced releases nearly one tonne of CO₂. Even modest reductions in cement demand, applied across major infrastructure projects, could prevent millions of tonnes of emissions over time.

This is not a futuristic concept. It has been tested using real demolition waste from Ontario construction projects and returned concrete from ready-mix operations. What was once treated as debris demonstrated potential as a high-value input for future infrastructure.

There is a deeper issue here.

Canada often speaks about building a circular economy. Yet construction and demolition waste remains one of the largest waste streams in the country. We continue to import raw materials and produce new cement while disposing of material that could be reactivated and reused.

If climate policy is to move beyond targets and speeches, we must look at the materials that quietly shape our economy. Concrete may not generate headlines like electric vehicles or wind turbines, but it forms the backbone of our cities. The carbon embedded in today’s infrastructure will remain for decades.

There is also an economic opportunity.

Reactivating concrete waste requires industrial processing, engineering expertise, and domestic supply chains. Scaling these solutions could create skilled jobs while strengthening Canada’s manufacturing base. Instead of exporting waste or importing alternatives, we can convert our own byproducts into performance materials for housing, transit, and critical infrastructure.

But innovation alone will not drive change.

Procurement standards and infrastructure specifications must evolve. Governments at every level have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. Yet many construction frameworks still prioritize conventional materials without adequately accounting for lifecycle carbon performance. If public funds are building the infrastructure of the future, they should also support lower-carbon material solutions where viable.

Concrete does not have to be the problem.

Reconsidering how we treat demolition waste is not radical environmentalism. It is pragmatic industrial modernization. The tools already exist within Canada’s industrial and scientific community. What is needed now is alignment between policy ambition, procurement practice, and material innovation.

The path to net-zero will not be built solely with new technologies. It will also depend on rethinking the materials we have taken for granted.

Sometimes climate leadership begins by asking a simple question: What are we throwing away that still has value?

Concrete, long treated as debris at the end of its life, may yet prove to be part of Canada’s climate solution.

For more information about MACROCEMENT™, check out their website here: https://macrocement.com/

Media Contact:
Summer DeForest
Copywriter/Public Relations
E. summer.w@inkas.ca
W. inkasarmored.com
440 Garyray Drive, North York, ON, Canada M9L 1P7

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