U.K. clay brick and pipe producer Canova Clay Limited, dba Hepworth, has achieved British Standards Institution certification for a new supplementary cementitious material. Hepworth Calcined Clay or HepCem is milled at the company’s Crow Edge operation in Sheffield, England, its silica, alumina and iron oxide content exceeding 90%.
Conformity with the BS 8615-1:2019+A1:2026 “Pozzolanic materials for use with Portland cement – Natural pozzolana and natural activated pozzolana” specification underscores HepCem suitability for concrete, mortar or grout mix designs.
“Achieving certification to BS 8615-1 is a significant milestone for HepCem and gives our customers independent assurance around both the product and the controls behind its manufacture,” said Hepworth CEO Daniel Hannappel. “We have decades of experience working with clay materials and calcination, and HepCem allows us to apply that expertise to one of the most important challenges facing the construction industry: reducing the embodied carbon associated with cement and concrete.”
“With certification now in place, we are ready to work with cement and concrete producers looking to evaluate calcined clay in lower-clinker formulations,” he added.
Hepworth has produced calcined clay for 40-plus years as part of the controlled raw material process accompanying its vitrified clay product molding. That expertise in mineral selection, thermal activation and fine grinding has provided the foundation for HepCem development. The SCM affords a reliable, domestically manufactured alternative to portland cement clinker, as well as an additional binder option amid increasing supply pressures surrounding established materials such as fly ash and GGBF slag.
The controlled HepCem production process is designed to provide consistent mineral composition, predictable reactivity and reliable pozzolanic performance, contributing to strong compressive strength development alongside the durability and consistency producers expect from specification-grade concrete, mortar or grout.
Hepworth is actively engaging with producers, specifiers and industry partners interested in assessing HepCem for use within lower-carbon cement and concrete formulations. — www.hepworth.co.uk/products/hepcem
