MCi Carbon has recently been announced as a finalist for the 34th National Banksia Sustainability Awards.
The awards recognise engineering breakthroughs achieved at their Pilot Plant Facility in Newcastle to decarbonise heavy industry.
The National Banksia Sustainability Awards seeks out and recognises innovation and leadership through the lens of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It’s encouraging for our team and the MCi Pilot Plant project to be recognised by the Banksia Foundation as a finalist, alongside other great Australian sustainability initiatives,” MCi Carbon Co-Founder and CEO, Marcus Dawe said.
“MCi Carbon have customers and partners across the world who are committed in joining us in the race to net zero.”
MCi Carbon captures emissions from global industries such as, steel, cement, fertilisers, and mining, unlocking the value of carbon by creating products and materials for the circular carbon economy.
The chemical process, called mineral carbonation, creates a range of materials, including calcium and magnesium carbonates by carbonating minerals in by-products of industrial processes.
“Achieving circularity during the transition is key, especially for hard-to-abate industries such as steel, cement, glass, refractories, and mining,” Marcus explained.
The company has grown exponentially in recent years, following the award of a 14.6 million dollar Australian Federal government grant to build a world-first demonstration plant at Orica Kooragang Island manufacturing site in Newcastle, using mineral carbonation to prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Recently, MCi Carbon announced RHI Magnesita, the world leading manufacturer of refractory materials, as its first global commercial customer.
The Banksia Foundation has earned the reputation as the most prestigious sustainability awards in Australia and longest-running sustainability awards in the world.
“The finalists, drawn from a record number of entries, demonstrate optimism and hope for a brighter future despite fears of an economic downturn,” Banksia Foundation CEO, Graz van Egmond said.
“We can’t be subject to pessimism.
“People need to hear our sustainability success stories. These are Australia’s brightest leaders, changemakers and innovators who are making a positive impact on the world.”
Reflecting the popularity to conserve, protect and restore Australia’s ecosystems, the Biodiversity, Circular Transition and Net Zero categories received the most entries for the Banksia Awards.
Last year, MCi was awarded the prestigious NSW Clean Technology Award, presented by the Banksia Foundation.
MCi Carbon’s semi-continuous research Pilot Plant is one of the first-of- its-kind in the world, and where the team conducts intensive industrial programs to refine the patented mineral carbonation process, deliver customer projects, and generate low-carbon materials for product testing.
Located at the University of Newcastle’s NIER facility, the plant reacts industrial emissions with feedstocks, such as low-grade minerals, creating both carbonates and silica by-products for use in building materials, such as concretes and plasterboards, demonstrating the potential to create value from CO2.
Recently featured in Bloomberg, Forbes, and the Australian Financial Review, MCi CEO Marcus Dawe and COO Sophia Hamblin Wang were named in the Top 100 Australian Green Power Players, published in The Australian.
MCi Carbon was awarded the NSW Clean Technology Award, presented at the 2022 Banksia Foundation Sustainability Awards.
IMAGE | Stefan Borgas (left) Marcus Dawe (right).
