Betolar slag approved for Finland’s low-carbon concrete market

Betolar has secured approval for its ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) to be used in Finland’s official low-carbon concrete emissions calculations, allowing concrete manufacturers to immediately incorporate the material into concrete mix designs aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

The approval means Betolar’s GGBFS, supplied through the Port of Hamina, has been assigned an emissions value under the Finnish Concrete Association’s low-carbon concrete calculator, which is used by the construction industry to assess the environmental impact of concrete products.

The material has been allocated an emissions value of 121 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) per tonne in Hamina. According to Betolar, this is around five to six times lower than the emissions associated with conventional CEM I cement, making it a lower-carbon alternative for concrete production.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag is a by-product of steel manufacturing that can replace a significant proportion of Portland cement in concrete. As cement production is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions in the construction sector, increased use of supplementary cementitious materials such as GGBFS is widely regarded as a practical way to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.

The approved emissions value is based on an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), a standardised assessment that measures the environmental impacts of a product throughout its lifecycle. The verification enables Finnish concrete producers to use the material in emissions calculations and low-carbon concrete specifications without requiring additional certification.

Amir Wafin, Executive Vice President of Circular Materials at Betolar, said the approval provides concrete manufacturers with a verified and readily available material that can be integrated into existing production processes to support the development of lower-carbon concrete.

He added that increasing the availability of verified alternative binder materials would give producers greater flexibility to reduce both emissions and production costs while supporting a more competitive market for low-carbon concrete in Finland.

The approval strengthens Betolar’s position as a supplier of circular materials for the construction industry, where demand for lower-carbon building products continues to increase in response to tightening climate regulations and sustainability targets.

The announcement comes as construction companies across Europe seek to reduce embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure. The use of industrial by-products such as blast furnace slag is expected to play an increasingly important role in lowering emissions from concrete production while reducing reliance on conventional cement, one of the most carbon-intensive construction materials.