Sustainable Materials: What Works for a Saudi Factory Build
Sustainable Materials: What Works for a Saudi Factory Build
Introduction
A cubic meter of traditional concrete emits roughly 210 kg of CO2. Multiply that across a full factory build. The material you probably haven’t scrutinized as closely as your steel or your MEP systems turns out to be one of the biggest levers on your project’s carbon footprint. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and its Green Initiative target cutting the Kingdom’s emissions by 278 million tonnes a year by 2030. Construction materials are part of how that number gets reached. Sustainable materials aren’t a single choice you make once. They’re two separate, practical levers, and knowing both matters more than picking a slogan.
Why concrete is the material that matters most
Cement, the binder in concrete, is the carbon-intensive part. Producing it requires heating limestone to extremely high temperatures. That process both burns a lot of fuel and releases CO2 directly from the limestone itself as it breaks down chemically. Steel and other materials have their own footprints. Cement production is the part of a typical industrial build most directly tied to the concrete you’re already pouring by the truckload.
The lever most owners don't know exists: SCMs
Supplementary cementitious materials, SCMs, replace part of the cement in a concrete mix with a different binding material that needs far less energy to produce. Fly ash and slag are the two most common SCMs used worldwide, but neither is locally available in Saudi Arabia in meaningful volume. That’s kept most Saudi concrete closer to full-cement mixes than markets where SCMs are standard practice.
That’s starting to change. In 2024, City Cement subsidiary Nizak Mining Company entered a joint venture with the UK’s Next Generation SCM to bring calcined clay SCM production to Riyadh. The venture uses patented CemTower technology from the Danish firm CemGreen. The process runs at lower temperatures and uses roughly a sixth of the fuel that conventional cement production needs.
At Next Generation SCM’s existing Denmark plant, the same technology produces calcined clay at about 8 kg of CO2 per tonne. That’s a 99 percent reduction against the International Energy Agency’s 600 kg per tonne average for traditional cement. The announced plan targeted production starting in Riyadh by the third quarter of 2025, ramping from 350,000 tonnes in year one to 700,000 tonnes in year two. A premium calcined clay SCM at that quality can cut a concrete mix’s emissions by up to 58 percent.
I could not confirm the Riyadh factory’s current production status as of writing this. Neither the joint venture’s own announcements nor Next Generation SCM’s published news updates go past late 2024. If you’re specifying concrete for a new build, confirm current SCM availability and lead times directly with your supplier. Don’t assume the 2025 target was met on schedule.
The lever you can act on today: recycled materials
Saudi Arabia’s Waste Management Law sets reduction, reuse, and recycling as priorities ahead of treatment and disposal for a reason. Recycled materials are often the most immediately available lever a factory project actually has, well before a new SCM supply chain matures. Recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste can replace virgin aggregate in a range of applications. The waste producer duties that already apply to your project under Article 11 point in the same direction: reducing what you generate and reusing what you can.
Between the two sustainable materials levers, the practical difference is availability. Recycled aggregate sourcing depends on your project’s location and an established local supply chain, but it doesn’t depend on a new production facility ramping up on schedule.
What sustainable materials mean for how you write your spec
Neither SCMs nor recycled materials are drop-in replacements you can specify without engineering review. Concrete mix design accounting for SCM content or recycled aggregate content needs to meet the same structural performance your project requires. Confirming that is exactly the kind of question a value engineering study is built to answer properly, instead of assuming a “greener” material automatically performs the same as what it replaces.
How Temujin approaches this
When it comes to sustainable materials, we track what’s actually available in the Saudi market rather than specifying based on what’s theoretically possible. That means confirming real SCM and recycled aggregate availability and lead times before a mix design goes into a contract, not after.
Frequently asked questions about sustainable construction materials
What makes concrete carbon-intensive?
Cement, the binder in concrete, requires heating limestone to very high temperatures. That process burns significant fuel and releases CO2 directly as the limestone breaks down chemically, separate from the fuel emissions.
What are supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs)?
SCMs replace part of the cement in a concrete mix with a different binding material that needs less energy to produce. Fly ash and slag are the most common globally, though neither is widely available in Saudi Arabia. That’s part of why new local SCM production matters.
Is low-carbon concrete available in Saudi Arabia yet?
A joint venture between Next Generation SCM and City Cement’s Nizak Mining Company announced plans in 2024 to produce calcined clay SCM in Riyadh, targeting production by the third quarter of 2025. Current production status hasn’t been publicly confirmed since. Check directly with suppliers for present availability.
Can recycled materials reduce a factory project’s carbon footprint?
Yes. Recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste can replace virgin aggregate in a range of applications. It’s available without depending on new production infrastructure coming online, unlike some emerging SCM supply chains.
Do sustainable materials cost more?
It depends on the material and your project’s location relative to supply. Recycled aggregate is often price-competitive with virgin material locally. Emerging SCM products may carry a premium until local production scales, similar to any new supply chain finding its footing.
Specifying sustainable materials for a factory project?
Getting sustainable materials right means confirming what’s actually available and proven, not just what’s theoretically possible. Get in touch and we will help you evaluate real options for your project’s materials specification.
