Bern/Biberist SO – Neustark has built its ninth and so far largest facility for storing CO2 in demolition concrete on a demolition site in Biberist. With its technology and partners Alluvia and Vigier Beton, granules there are enriched with CO2 and can be recycled.
Neustark, a pioneer in the permanent removal of carbon from the atmosphere, launches its largest facility to date to store CO2 in demolition concrete. It was built in Biberist on the demolition site of a paper mill and was planned jointly with the two demolition recycling and concrete production companies Alluvia AG and Vigier Beton, according to a media release. The two companies operate the plant.
Based in Bern and spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 2019, the company’s technology tackles the world’s largest waste stream: Neustark has developed a technology and value chain that transforms demolition concrete into a carbon sink.
To do this, the company works with biogas plants to capture CO2 there. It is then transported to nearby storage facilities where the CO2 is injected into the granules of demolition concrete. This triggers a mineralization process. In the process, the CO2 is converted into limestone and thus permanently bound to the granules. Recyclers can reuse the granules enriched in this way according to the usual process.
“Neustark was the first company to demonstrate in practice that permanent CO2 storage by mineralization in concrete demolition is economically and ecologically viable,” founder and co-CEO Johannes Tiefenthaler is quoted as saying. In its first months of operation, Neustark says it has already permanently removed more than 300 tons of CO2. The goal is to have at least 1 million by 2030. Further plants are currently being built in Germany, Austria and France. Its clientele includes UBS, Microsoft and Verdane. ce/mm
