Oklima, Valloire Habitat and NeoCem are joining forces to accelerate the decarbonization of construction

An innovation in the service of decarbonization

In a context where the cement sector must rapidly reduce its carbon footprint despite rising global demand, Oklima, Valloire Habitat and NeoCem are collaborating to deploy a low-carbon calcined recycled clay solution.

This solution, developed by NeoCem, a company specializing in material recovery and the reuse of clays from construction site waste, reduces the proportion of clinker—the main source of CO₂ emissions in traditional cement—by up to 90%, while promoting local supply chains and reducing waste. This represents a direct contribution to the decarbonization of the construction sector.

This partnership also enabled the acquisition of carbon credits, marketed by Oklima, an EDF Group subsidiary specializing in the development of carbon contribution projects. The funding generated by their sale directly supports the project's industrial ramp-up. Thanks to these resources, NeoCem recently inaugurated its first plant in Saint-Maximin in the Oise region and aims, in the long term, to increase its production capacity from 250 tons of calcined recycled clay, equivalent to 1.000 tons of cement and 10.000 tons of concrete, to 300.000 tons of clay from excavated material annually, producing 200.000 tons of calcined recycled clay.

A solution deployed on a large scale

As an intermediary between NeoCem and Valloire Habitat, Oklima enabled NeoCem to obtain the necessary financial support to deploy its solution on a large scale, while helping Valloire Habitat to identify a project aligned with its value chain.

For Valloire Habitat, the real estate subsidiary of the Action Logement group in the Centre-Val de Loire region, this partnership marks a new step in its environmental strategy. After three years of supporting low-carbon certified agricultural and forestry projects, the housing provider is supporting, for the first time, a project related to its core business.

This project is part of a circular economy approach, recovering waste from construction sites and reintroducing it into the production chain. Audited and certified by Rainbow (European standard) according to the international benchmark program ICROA (International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance), this solution reduces the carbon footprint of materials, limits the extraction of natural resources, and minimizes landfill waste.

According to Vincent Henneron, Managing Director at Valloire Habitat: “Aware of the impact of our activities on the environment, we act as a responsible and civic-minded company, financing carbon contribution projects since 2022 as part of an ambitious decarbonization strategy. We approached Oklima to support us in identifying projects with a positive, sustainable impact that align with our challenges, values, and corporate project. We are delighted to be able to contribute to the development of NeoCem, a pioneer in its field.”

According to Christophe Deboffe, founder of NeoCem: “With cement production expected to grow by 12 to 23% by 2050, the sector’s environmental impact continues to worsen. Stakeholders must support its evolution towards solutions that emit less greenhouse gas. On this scale, our solution is a world first with a significant carbon footprint: it can be implemented immediately while already meeting the cement reduction targets set by the European Union for 2050.”

According to Thomas Bladier, co-founder and President of Oklima: “Our mission is to support companies in their low-carbon transition by creating concrete links between technological innovation, sectoral needs, and territorial impact. This project perfectly illustrates our commitment: to offer accessible and measurable decarbonized solutions that enable companies to move from intention to action.”