Concrete breakthrough: Zeotech’s AusPozz smashes performance tests

Australian materials tech company Zeotech has scored a major win in its quest to decarbonise the construction industry, with independent testing confirming its AusPozz product delivers remarkable strength improvements while dramatically cutting concrete’s carbon footprint.

According to an ASX announcement on Monday, the Brisbane-based company’s high-reactivity metakaolin (HRM) product achieved a 50 per cent strength gain when replacing just 20 per cent of cement in concrete mixes. Even more impressively, the tests showed AusPozz can replace up to 40 per cent of cement while still improving overall concrete performance.

“These results are extremely exciting as they demonstrate that AusPozz can be a game-changer in the race to decarbonise concrete,” said James Marsh, Zeotech’s Chief Executive Officer.

The comprehensive testing program evaluated AusPozz across six different concrete mix designs, finding it significantly reduced concrete shrinkage — a critical problem in large construction projects — while also eliminating temperature differential issues in large-volume applications like wind farm foundations.

For the concrete industry, which accounts for roughly 8 per cent of global carbon emissions, the environmental implications are substantial. Preliminary assessments suggest AusPozz has approximately 79 per cent less embodied carbon than traditional cement.

The company has already attracted attention from major industry players, with AdBri (CRH), Heidelberg Materials Australia, and several other concrete manufacturers currently testing the product. A commercial-scale concrete trial using AusPozz is scheduled for later this month.

Zeotech’s innovation draws on ancient construction techniques — pozzolanic materials have been used for over 2,000 years — but employs modern technology and the company’s high-purity Toondoon kaolin feedstock to create a product specifically designed for maximum reactivity while maintaining economic viability.

With approximately 200 tonnes of kaolin feedstock already delivered to Melbourne for commercial-scale production, Zeotech appears poised to make its mark on an industry desperately seeking practical solutions to reduce its environmental impact.

Picture: credit Zeotech