Our story

HR cement make the best cement and cement substitute products in New Zealand, both planet-friendly and high- performing

Read more about Eco-cem and EcoMax.

The team at HR Cement recognised that the industry needed to reduce its carbon footprint and, after years of testing and innovation, we are the first in New Zealand to make and supply a BFS-based cement replacement material and so enable production of truly low carbon concrete.

 

Certified Processing

HR Cement is ISO9001 certified for the entire production process.

We have an on-site laboratory for initial quality testing and then our products are further independently tested to ensure we conform with the NZ Cement standard NZS 3122:2009. The results are published weekly.

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)

We have an EPD for our Xtra-cem GP Cement, an independently verified assessment of the impact of our products.

Our pursuit of the industry-defining SCM

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are a class of minerals that can be used to substitute cement. The Romans understood the earliest SCM (a natural volcanic pozzolan) well, mixing this material with burnt lime to create the early cement used for the Pantheon and the Pont du Gard which still stand today.
During the 1950s in New Zealand, natural pozzolans (pumice) from the Central Plateau were used in concrete to build the Waikato dams and other associated projects. This followed extensive DSIR trials, and the Ātiamuri, Waipapa and Ohakuri projects are testament to their longevity.

 

Our product development journey

We originally investigated a blended cement, and the journey began with testing natural pozzolans as a potential base of our carbon conscious cement.

This investigation involved Callaghan Innovation, overseas laboratories, small scale trials and finally pilot production. With a working blended cement concept concluded and many tonnes produced, HR Cement was very grateful to receive a Technology Award Commendation from NZ Concrete Society in 2017.

This work continued until 2018 when it was concluded that whilst workable, natural pozzolans have some significant hurdles when considered commercially, mainly because of their comparatively low reactivity. Simply put, there are more efficient solutions. (That said, we feel natural pozzolans will probably feature in the future as the market evolves.)

Our research into Blast Furnace Slag (BFS), a by-product of steel production, created a more efficient product while still meeting our low carbon goals.