Carbon Upcycling Technologies Ltd
FOCUS: Carbon Sequestration and waste reduction
OVERVIEW: Mineralizes CO2 into low-grade industrial waste to create carbon-negative cement alternatives for green construction.
Carbon Upcycling produces zero carbon alternative cementitious materials that can be blended to reduce the carbon intensity of cement and concrete. The technology utilizes low value industrial by-products as its main feedstock, such as EAF/BOF steel slags, aggregate waste, mine tailings and other quarry by-products. These materials are typically landfilled or stockpiled on-site, so their utilization results in zero waste. The materials are processed in a proprietary industrial mill with the injection of flue gas CO2, which can become mineralized in the material by binding with CaO or MgO. In addition to carbon sequestration, the fully electric process produces zero emissions if renewable electricity is used, resulting in the production of carbon negative cement materials.
Cement is responsible for 8% of global CO₂ emissions, and 60% of those emissions are locked into the raw material itself — you can't electrify your way out of it. At the same time, North America is running short on cementitious materials, importing over $3.4 billion worth annually while construction backlogs mount. Carbon Upcycling Technologies solves both problems at once. Our MACE process co-locates at existing industrial facilities, using CO₂ from flue gas to activate low-grade waste materials — steel slag, coal ash, clays — into high-performance supplementary cementitious materials. We turn a disposal liability into a local cement supply. Unlike conventional SCMs, our product permanently mineralises CO₂ rather than just avoiding it. We're already at cost parity with traditional cement production at commercial scale, with our first plant coming online in 2026 and plans to develop 1Mt+ of capacity by 2030.
WEBSITE: Carbon Upcycling Technologies
Carbon Upcycling is Promising for California
AB 2446 Creates a Direct Compliance Mandate. California must achieve a 40% reduction in cement emissions by 2035 and net-zero by 2045 relative to 2019 levels, and Carbon Upcycling's MACE process, which enables up to 60% carbon reduction through CO₂ capture and abatement, is precisely the type of solution cement manufacturers need to meet these legally binding targets.
Buy Clean California Act Opens the Public Procurement Market. The Buy Clean California Act requires state agencies, the University of California, and the California State University systems to comply with maximum acceptable Global Warming Potential limits for construction materials including concrete reinforcing steel and cement, giving Carbon Upcycling a direct channel into billions of dollars of California public infrastructure spending where their carbon-negative SCMs qualify as compliant materials.
CALGreen and AB 2446 Reporting Requirements Reward Carbon-Negative Materials. AB 2446 requires new residential buildings of 5+ units and non-residential buildings over a size threshold to submit life-cycle assessments or Environmental Product Declarations for their construction materials. Carbon Upcycling permanently mineralizes CO₂ rather than merely avoiding it, so their materials produce strongly negative LCA scores that help developers comply with and exceed California's reporting thresholds.
California's Coal Phase-Out Creates an Urgent Local Feedstock Opportunity. Cement manufacturers today can only use high-quality ash and iron slag from coal-based processes for blended cement, but as coal phases out, manufacturers in North America and Europe have grown to rely on foreign imports from Asia. Carbon Upcycling's ability to activate low-quality landfilled coal ash, steel slag, and clays available across California's industrial sites creates a domestic, carbon-negative supply chain that directly addresses this shortage.
California's $3.4B+ Cement Import Dependency Is a Local Supply Chain Risk. North America imports over $3.4 billion in cementitious materials annually, and California's massive construction pipeline — driven by housing mandates, infrastructure spending, and the high-speed rail project — is acutely exposed to this supply vulnerability; Carbon Upcycling's co-location model produces materials at cost parity using locally stockpiled industrial waste, offering California builders a domestic, lower-cost alternative.