Building New From Old: Circular Construction ChallengeCopy Link

**DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO 10th SEPTEMBER 2024**

**RECORDING AND SLIDES FROM THE INFORMATION SESSION ARE AVAILABLE HERE**

Lafarge Africa Plc (part of Holcim Group) is seeking innovative, circular ideas for the use of Construction Demolition Materials (CDM) to tackle the challenges of material waste and climate change to help to decarbonise the construction industry. They are focusing on 3 inter-related initiatives: digital platforms; scouting and securing sources; material handling, sorting and recycling tech. A flexible, scalable solution would be preferred to benefit Nigerian business operations directly.

Solutions are invited from, but not limited to, the following sectors: 

• Construction
• Recycling
• Manufacturing
• Chemistry
• Biotechnology
• Energy
• Data
• Satellite
• Design

Company Background

Lafarge Africa Plc is a member of the Holcim Group - the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. It was incorporated in 1959 and listed as a publicly quoted company in Nigeria in 1979.

Lafarge serves Nigeria with a wide range of building and construction solutions designed to meet housing and construction needs from small projects like individual home building to major construction and infrastructure projects.

With plants in Ewekoro and Sagamu in the South-West, Mfamosing in the South and Ashaka in the North-East of Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc currently has an installed cement production capacity of 10.5MTPA and has plans to grow in the near term.

Lafarge Africa believes in ‘Building Progress for People and the Planet’, by continually creating environmental, economic and social impact in their operating communities while advancing Nigerian society.

The company has adopted a horizontal approach to sustainability and aligns their practices along four key pillars: Climate & Energy, Circular Economy, Nature and People. Through various interventions, Lafarge Africa aims to reinvent how the world builds for today, for tomorrow and for the future.

Challenge Background

Construction Demolition Materials (CDM) are generated from the excavation of sites, construction, renovation, repair, and demolition of houses, large structures, roads and bridges. Holcim’s goal is to become the leading cement player in the CDM business, aligned with a transition towards sustainable materials. 

They were the first company to utilise CDM to create products in Switzerland. In Nigeria, they are seeking sustainable, local solutions rather than importing raw materials, and are actively engaged in R&D to make recycled materials more reactive and powerful. Such materials are used already as minor additions to processes, but the goal is working with regulators towards their inclusion as major additions.

Some countries have very organised methods of collecting materials, leading to reliable databases. Nigeria has a fragmented system without such clarity. Approximately 70% of CDM comes from individual homes, with the remainder being larger industrial buildings. CDM materials become available whenever somebody decides to demolish or rebuild, or when buildings collapse unexpectedly.

Holcim requires innovative solutions for CDM identification, aggregation, processing and production. Their goal is to transform this construction materials problem into a circular economy solution. Holcim is committed to reducing the share of virgin material in cement via 3 initiatives:

• Developing digital platforms to map/identify CDM sources (currently no data is available in Nigeria)
• Scouting the market around urban areas to identify & secure sources (currently this is all done by word-of-mouth)
• Local, cutting-edge technologies for material handling, sorting and recycling (with suitable tech and QA systems tailored for Nigeria)

Most demolitions cause everything to come down together. These materials comprise many different shapes, sizes and consistencies, requiring careful sorting. The recovery focus would be on fine aggregates, which are the most versatile for creation of new products, with countless applications.

Typically 50%+ of the rubble will consist of concrete fines, previously used for foundations, slabs and blocks. The remnants will comprise metal, wood, cabling, roof tiles, etc. Other materials may also be useful, pending chemical tests.

Currently most CDM is discarded or reused locally and/or informally. It is often just left on the roadside. The small-scale nature makes things unpredictable. A local solution with suitable methodology is required. Any proposed digital solution is encouraged to leverage data automation as much as possible (for example, but not limited to: satellite-based and remote sensing technologies). This will aim to reduce manual data sourcing to the barest minimum.

A holistic approach to this challenge will require collaboration with public and private partners. To bring them on board, the best approach may be the running of small, autonomous projects initially as proof points, and then showing and scaling. A two-stage process may comprise: 

• Source or create a database to aggregate relevant information, allowing the scoping and facilitating of possible solutions.
• Valorise the CDM materials into environmentally beneficial and commercially viable products for introduction into industrial supply chains.

Key questions to consider include:

• How do you map the CDM stock?
• How do you aggregate and transport it?
• How do you sort these materials?
• How do you process these materials? (to feed into supply chains)

This should not be a one-off solution, but rather a way to secure a sustainable feedstock. Applicants should consider public domain and targetted digital solutions. A useful reference would be the UK Retrofit challenge, which captured dwelling type and asset type, creating heat maps of likely yields. The plastic recycling industry also provides useful reference, such as data mapping and incentivisation of collection.

Holcim would like to develop a structured process to match demand and supply, supporting a stable business model. This model should generate positive ROI, being attractive for both CDM owners (versus landfill disposal) and for cement producers (versus virgin aggregates).

Further Considerations:

The pilot project should focus on Lagos City, with the intention to scale to other states afterwards.

A Significant part of the challenge is about identifying where and how to find waste concrete, which is likely to comprise:

• Waste during new build (at site and at local batching plant)
• Waste on demolition sites
• Dumped waste around urban landscape (post demolition)
• Potential waste from planned development works

Digital aspects may draw upon technologies that exploit current data such as:

• Satellite imagery
• Google streetview
• Local scouting/citizen scientists
• Social media mining
• Consolidating mixed data and drawing usable information from it

Mechanical handling and processing innovation should bear in mind the current two stage process:

• Rough breaking and separation of rebar, etc.
• Finer crushing down to approx. 400mm

• Up to GBP 25,000 seed funding (Subject to T&C)
• Opportunity to pitch your solution to Lafarge Africa
• Collaboration/partnership with Lafarge Africa
• Technical support from Lafarge Africa team
• Sector expertise from IUK
• Support in the development of a prototype or pilot
• Invitation to attend or present at IUK events
• Investor introductions (if investment is required)
• Application support for any related competitions that are relevant.

The identified solution must/should address the following:

• Solution must apply to CDM
• Solution may be integrated at any point in supply chain
• Solution must be sustainable and support circular economy principles

• Solution may be delivered by external contractor or via in-house team
• Solution must comply with local building regulations
• Any additional infrastructure required should be identified
• For mapping and scouting, solutions leveraging data automation will be preferred
• Solution may address some or all of the challenges mentioned, though holistic solutions are preferred

• Solution should operate in context of normal temperatures and humidity
• Solution should be applicable during normal working hours
• Versatility and capacity to scale are desirable
• Solution must be safe to operate
• Solution must apply to Lagos City (initially)

• 12 Jul 2024 – Competition launch
• 14 Aug 2024 – Information session/Q&A 
• 10 Sep 2024 – Deadline for applications
• Sep 2024 – Selection and notification of finalists
• Oct 2024 – Pitch day & selection of winner
• Sep/Oct 2024 – Collaboration discussions
• Oct 2024 – Pilot programme activated

• The solution’s operation should aim to be cost-effective and/or profitable in terms of ROI
• Winning solution providers may become long-term partners, gaining access to Holcim supply chains
• External contractors and in-house technical arrangements will be considered
• The opportunity may later extend beyond CDM to other waste streams
• Please specify a topline business case to support your solution

Proposed solutions may not be viable if they are:

• Unable to create reliable supply chain
• Unable to produce reliable quality outputs
• Unable to use Circular Economy thinking
• Unsuitable for Nigerian building regulations
• Unsuitable for Lagos City operations

Entrants to this competition must be:

• Established businesses, start-ups, SMEs, academics or individual entrepreneurs
• Africa-based entrants, UK-based entrants and those from RoW are invited to apply

Due Diligence requirements for seed funding:

• UK applicants must ensure that receiving the £25k seed funding will not exceed the £315,000* state aid threshold under UK Minimal Financial Assistance regulations over the current and last 2 fiscal years [or *200,000 euros for applicants affected by EC de minimis regulations]
• Further information will be required later relating to company policies, financial history and recent grant funding received.

Applications will be assessed on:

• Relevance to the topic
• Innovative nature of the subject
• Coherence of the proposed business model
• Feasibility/ economic viability
• Development potential
• Maturity of project/solution
• Ability to launch project quickly/Ease of implementation
• Price/quality ratio
• Suitability for the Nigerian Market

• Existing background IP associated with a potential solution will remain with Solution Provider(s). Where any new IP generation is envisaged, it will be subject to the mutual IP agreement of the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Any commercial deployment of a transferred solution or newly developed solution, through licensing, joint venture, partnership or direct investment, will be subject to the commercial agreement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger.
• Where necessary, a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) may be signed to uphold confidentiality in the engagement between the Solution Provider(s) and Innovation Challenger. (This would be expected to be after company selection. It is suggested that details of IP not be disclosed initially. Focus on the outcomes of the technology proposed).
• Innovate UK does not take any share of IP ownership or enter into commercial ventures through the iX programme.

• The application form for this challenge will require applicants to provide company information and answer 3 questions - Idea Summary, Technology Readiness and Intellectual Property – each with a limit of 300 words.
• Optionally, supporting documents can be attached to the application. We recommend that supporting documents are limited to those which are directly relevant to the application. Please note that applications with no supporting document will not receive any penalty in assessment. Supporting documents which the Assessment Panel deems to be superfluous may be disregarded. Examples of useful additional documents include product images or short specification sheets, slide decks detailing the solution and/or company background, or solution case studies.
• We recommend that you complete the application form in Google Chrome as other browsers may have compatibility issues. The application form does not need to be completed in one session and can be saved for future edits. Please ensure that you toggle “Stage Complete” for each section before submission. Note that you will no longer be able to edit your application once you have clicked “Submit Idea” at the bottom of the Summary page.