E4C – Electric arc furnace slag for cement

Luleå University of Technology (LTU) participates in the project E4C – Electric arc furnace slag for Cement, a collaborative research initiative aiming to reduce the climate impact of cement production by developing modified electric arc furnace slag (EAFS) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Just Transition Fund co-financed by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth.

The project E4C is a collaboration between Heidelberg Materials, SSAB, research institutes and universities, including LTU. The objective is to develop and validate a concept for modifying EAFS from SSAB’s steel production so that it can be used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cement.

By enabling the use of modified slag as a partial replacement for clinker, the project contributes to lowering the carbon footprint of cement. Cement production is one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes globally, primarily due to clinker production. Reducing clinker content is therefore a key strategy for achieving national and European climate goals.

The project focuses on industrial research and aims to deliver a validated laboratory-scale concept for EAFS modification. The developed SCM must demonstrate reactivity, chemical stability, and performance comparable to existing SCMs, while meeting environmental and technical requirements for use in cement and concrete.

The project runs from January 2026 to December 2028 and is funded within the framework of the National Programme for the Just Transition Fund 2021–2027.