C2CA's EIC Accelerator Turns Old Concrete Back Into Cement

Cement accounts for about 8% of global CO2 emissions, and the world throws away some 3 billion tonnes of concrete a year. Most of it is crushed into low-grade aggregate, and the cement paste in it, the part that was once the binder, is treated as waste. C2CA Technology, a spin-out of TU Delft now trading as everox, recovers that paste and reactivates it into a supplementary cementitious material it calls Activated Cement Paste, which it says can replace up to 30% of the cement in a new concrete mix.

The EIC Accelerator selected the project at its October 2024 cut-off for blended finance, and CORDIS records a grant of €2,499,999 from June 2025 to May 2027 to complete the flagship plant, demonstrate the technology at industrial scale and build a smaller testing facility with a materials laboratory. By 2024 the company had built its core machines at industrial scale and processed more than 1,000 tonnes of waste concrete.

Recovering everything, not just the gravel

The company's argument against the recycling industry it competes with is that crushing concrete into aggregate destroys the valuable part. Its process recovers all fractions, with indicative yields of about 60% recycled coarse aggregate, 20% Activated Cement Paste, 15% recycled fine aggregate and 5% fine inert filler. The paste is the point: it is a substitute for fly ash and slag, the traditional cement extenders that are disappearing as coal plants and blast furnaces close. The project also argues against the alternatives, calcined clay and mine tailings, as costly or energy-intensive to make and move.

Because the plant is small, low-energy and needs little space, the company says it can sit near cities where both the waste and the demand are, which cuts transport. It joined the EU-funded CITADEL project to electrify its process and the DETOCS project on concrete sustainability data.

The flagship, and what is not finished

On 10 September 2026 the company held its first Open Days at the site of its first commercial-scale plant in the Netherlands, built with joint venture partner Dura Vermeer, and reported that construction was advancing and the facility is permitted to process 100,000 tonnes of demolition concrete a year. Visitors saw pilot plant demonstrations and the flagship site. Since 2022 the pilot has processed several thousand tonnes.

The gap is certification. The company says its four materials are "advancing through EU-standard recognition and national approval processes in the Netherlands" and that it is pursuing a European Technical Assessment for CE marking across the EU. Until that is granted, the materials cannot be sold freely across Europe. CORDIS shows no periodic report for the project.

1. Industrial-scale machinesBuiltCore machines built and over 1,000 tonnes processed by 2024, per CORDIS.
2. Flagship commercial plantUnder constructionShowcased in September 2026; not operating.
3. Material certificationIn progressEU standard recognition and a European Technical Assessment still being pursued.
4. Commercial salesNot reportedPartnerships are memoranda of understanding; no volumes or revenue public.

Equity, a grant, and a Series B planned

The company raised a €10 million Series A in September 2024 from impact investors and strategic partners including InnovationQuarter's Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam and Titan Cement, after an earlier seed round from Chrysalix Venture Capital that also brought in the current CEO. In November 2024 Taaleri Bioindustry invested to enable the Rotterdam plant, which it described as processing about 150,000 tonnes a year, a larger figure than the 100,000 tonnes the company's own 2026 statement gives as the permitted capacity.

The company announced the EIC award in August 2025 as €12.5 million of EIC Accelerator funding, which implies the €2.5 million grant plus €10 million of conditional equity; no EIC Fund investment has been announced. In September 2026 it said it was working with partners and investors toward a Series B in early 2027, citing €10 million of Series A money and the €2.5 million grant as what it has secured so far.

A European answer to vanishing fly ash

Europe's cement industry has a specific problem the EIC is funding against: the cheap supplementary materials that reduce clinker in cement, fly ash from coal power and slag from steel, are going away as those industries change, while CO2 rules tighten. A substitute made from demolition waste in the same city is attractive on emissions and on supply security, which is the argument everox makes about dependence on global supply chains. Its expansion plan names the UK, North America, the Middle East and Asia after Europe.