FAQs

For questions about Reco Cement please refer to the following categories below. If your questions are still unanswered please contact us.

Product

What does Reco Cement produce?

Reco Cement produces cementitious additives which can be used as a replacement for 15 to 75 percent of the weight volume of Portland cement.

What broad benefits do the additives provide?

The additives allow Portland cement manufacturers and concrete ready-mix companies to use less Portland cement in their design mixes, thereby reducing their environmental impact and lessening their costs. The resultant blend is qualitatively superior to Portland cement and allows Reco Cement’s customers to market their products as a green alternative to most construction materials.

How does a cementitious mix made with Reco Cement additives compare to traditional Portland cement?

Reco Cement’s design mixes produce cements and concretes that are:

  • Stronger and sturdier than conventionally produced products, partially due to the elimination of thermal cracking
  • The workability of the design mixes are comparable to those achieved by Portland cement
  • Our design mixes set faster and more efficiently due to a lower need for cooling in large pours and no need for accelerators in the hardening phase
  • Unlike Portland cement, our design mixes do not require the use of caustic chemicals

How does the use of the additives reduce costs for the Portland cement manufacturers and the concrete ready-mix companies?

The additives are made primarily from recycled materials that would normally be placed into landfills. These materials are generally available locally at a cost that is significantly less than the cost of Portland cement. The use of the additives also allows users to include recycled materials such as fly ash and granulated slag in their design mixes, both of which are available at costs significantly lower than Portland cement.

Are there any other cost savings available to the Portland cement manufacturers?

Yes. The first step in the production of Portland cement involves the baking (cracking) of limestone in high-temperature kilns. The clinker produced by this process is the basic building block for the production of Portland cement. Not only do the kilns require the consumption of costly energy, but also construction is expensive and operation is labor intensive. Adding one ton of annual Portland cement capacity costs $150 to $250 per ton. The cost of building a Reco Cement additives factory costs approximately $10 to $12 per ton of annual capacity.

What would be a representative design mix?

A representative mix might include 50% Portland cement, 35% fly ash (or granulated slag) and 15% Reco Cement additives.

Are the raw materials used in Reco Cement’s additives difficult to source?

No. With the exception of certain admixtures, all of the raw materials used in Reco Cement’s design mixes and additives can be sourced locally. This is important because the high cost of transportation limits most construction companies to only supply customers within a 250-mile radius of their plants.

Do the Portland cement manufacturers or ready-mix companies need to add any additional equipment to blend Reco Cement’s additives?

Not necessarily. The additives, as well as the fly ash (or granulated slag), can be mixed directly with the Portland cement. At most, a user may have to add an additional conveyor system and one or more additional silos.

Have the additives been certified to the appropriate ASTM standards?

Yes. Reco Cement’s additives have been certified to ASTM C595 “Standard Specification for Blended Cements” by two independent laboratories. The laboratories tested Reco Cement design mixes using rapid freeze-thaw testing (ASTM C 666) and deicer scaling resistance testing (ASTM C 672) to find the following results:

  • Concrete mixtures utilizing Reco Cement’s design mixes did not require air entrainment or moist curing (only air curing), yet were as durable as the control concrete specimens they were tested against.
  • Reco Cement concretes had significantly lower chloride ion permeability denser than the control concrete specimens.
  • The concrete specimens containing Reco Cement’s additives had a higher compressive strength; 7,410 pounds per square inch (PSI) versus the 5,140 PSI achieved by the control specimens, and did not show any signs of reduced resistance to chemical attack.

Have Reco Cement’s additives been able to achieve results greater than 7,410 PSI?

Yes. Reco Cement routinely achieves results in excess of 9,000 PSI, depending on the quality of the Portland cement and fly ash supplied by the client.

What is the origin of fly ash?

When power plants burn coal to generate electricity, about 10% of the inorganic materials in the coal do not burn off. These by-products are called fly ash. The most desirable type of fly ash is Class C fly ash, which is produced when coal is cleanly and thoroughly burned. Older coal-burning power plants produce an inferior fly ash known as Class F fly ash.

Why would construction contractors add fly ash to their concrete design mixes?

Construction contractors have been including fly ash as a partial replacement for Portland cement in concrete for decades. Even the Hoover Dam was made with concrete that included fly ash. When fly ash is added to concrete it actually strengthens the concrete mix. However, until recently the maximum amount of fly ash that could be added to a concrete design mix was capped at 15% of the total volume. Any fly ash added beyond that point would weaken the concrete mix. Construction contractors that use Reco Cement’s additives can use fly ash to replace up to 60% of the Portland cement they are using in their design mixes without any loss of strength.

What types of fly ash work with Reco Cement’s additives?

Reco Cement’s additives will work with both types of fly ash.

Reco Cement has successfully tested its additives with Off-Spec fly ash, a subcategory of Class C fly ash, which is created when coal-burning power plants burn coal at tow temperatures in an effort to lower their CO2 emissions. Off-Spec fly ash is characterized by its high carbon and high calcium content, which has eliminated it from use with cementitious materials because the carbon in the fly ash absorbs air-entraining admixture in freshly mixed concrete, making it difficult to control entrained air. As a result, most Off-Spec fly ash is either placed into road beds or landfills. The reason that the Off-Spec fly ash works so well with Reco Cement’s additives is that the higher strengths produced by the additives offset the negative effects of the high carbon content. The Company has already successfully used Off-Spec fly ash in a pour in the Caribbean.

Are there any advantages to using Off-Spec fly ash?

Yes. The use of Off-Spec fly ash would give Reco Cement’s customers a significant competitive advantage, as the current price for Off-Spec fly ash is $10 to $12 per ton. This is considerably lower than the current price for Class C fly ash, which is in the range of $50 to $55 per ton.

What is the position of the Environmental Protection Agency on the use of fly ash as a replacement for Portland cement in concrete?

The EPA has stated that the use of fly ash as a partial replacement for Portland cement in the production of fly ash constitutes an appropriate “beneficial use” of the substance. The EPA has defined "beneficial use" “as the reuse of CCRs (coal combustion residuals) in a product that provides a functional benefit; that replaces a product made from virgin raw materials on the market, thus conserving natural resources that would otherwise need to be obtained through practices, such as extraction; and that meets relevant product specifications and regulatory standards. An encapsulated beneficial use is one that binds the CCRs into a solid matrix that minimizes their mobilization into the surrounding environment.”

When fly ash is used (encapsulated) to make concrete the toxic properties of the fly ash are rendered inert.

Is Reco Cement in competition with the Portland cement manufacturers?

Absolutely not! Reco Cement’s additives are meant to supplement the use of Portland cement. Our additives provide Portland cement manufacturers with a product that is not only qualitatively superior and less expensive than their current offering, but also a product that can be marketed as green.

Sales and Operations

How large is the market for Portland cement?

Huge! Although, the international market dwarfs the market for Portland cement in the U.S. In 2012, the U.S. produced 74,000,000 metric ton of Portland cement while the 3,700,000,000 metric tons were produced internationally. China, the world’s largest market for Portland cement, consumed 2,150,000,000 metric tons in 2012, equal to 58.1% of the world’s consumption. India, the world’s second largest market, produced 250,000,000 metric tons in 2012. This market is potentially worth more than $3 trillion per year; Reco Cement only needs to capture a small portion of this market to be successful.

How does Reco Cement intend to market its products?

Reco Cement will either sell additives directly to the Portland cement manufacturers and ready-mix companies or license its technology.

Does Reco Cement have a factory?

Yes, the company’s plant is located in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, which is a northwest suburb of Milwaukee. The plant has sufficient capacity to support the annual production of over 400,000 tons of Portland cement, but this capacity can be doubled.

Has the factory been designed to produce just one product or can it support the production of multiple design mixes?

Reco Cement’s factory has been designed so that it can easily produce multiple design mixes with no alterations to either the equipment or to the production line. The equipment has also been designed with portability in mind; if we build a factory in a market that does not meet its expectations, the equipment can easily be disassembled and moved to another location.

Will Reco Cement build any additional plants?

Possibly. The transport of cement is expensive and the distribution of most construction materials is generally limited to within a 250-mile radius from their source. We will consider building additional domestic plants if we receive a long-term commitment for the sale of production from the plants.

Will Reco Cement build plants overseas?

Probably not. As an alternative, it will seek to enter into territorial exclusive license agreements with international Portland cement manufacturers and ready-mix companies.

How can I get more information about Reco Cement’s products?

More information about Reco Cement’s products can be obtained by either calling the company directly or by sending an email. See the Contact section.

Intellectual Property

Does Reco Cement have any protection for its intellectual property?

Reco Cement owns two different patents:

  • On February 19, 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 8,377,192 to Reco Cement for “Cementitious Compositions and Related Systems and Methods.”
  • On September 10, 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued patent number 8,529,689 to Reco Cement for “Cementitious Compositions and Related Systems and Methods.”

The patents cover sustainable cement that is produced through a process that does not generate any significant carbon dioxide emissions, requires only a small amount of energy, and is made entirely from recycled materials or waste by-products from coal-burning power plants. These recycled materials and waste products may include gypsum, crushed glass, lime kiln dust, calcium carbonates, fly ash, granulated slag, oil shale and coral dust.

Environmental Matters and Regulatory Environment

How does the production of Portland cement impact the environment?

It has an adverse impact. The cement industry produces approximately 5% of all global man-made CO2 emissions, of which 50% is from the chemicals that are processed and 50% from burning fuel. The production of one ton of Portland cement generates one ton of CO2 emissions.

Does the use of Reco Cement’s additives have a positive impact on the environment?

Yes. Not only do we use industrial by-products that would normally be placed into landfills, the by-products are used as a partial replacement (along with fly ash or granulated slag) for Portland cement. This reduces carbon dioxide emissions on a pound for pound basis.

What causes the Portland cement manufacturers to generate so many CO2 emissions?

The first step in the manufacture of Portland cement involves the cracking of limestone in high temperature kilns, a process that releases a huge amount of carbon dioxide. Reco Cement’s additives are dry-mixes that do not involve the use of kilns.

Would Reco Cement’s design mixes qualify for carbon credits?

Yes. Reco Cement believes that its additives would qualify for carbon credits if the government enacted a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program.

What are the prospects for a carbon tax or cap-and-trade legislation in the U.S.?

Very good! The Environmental Protection Agency has recently issued new rules regulating the emissions generated by coal-burning power plants. Because the Supreme Court has previously granted the EPA the power to regulate CO2 emissions without Congressional approval, we believe that within the next several years the EPA will implement either a cap-and-trade scheme or a carbon tax.