Steico has appointed Andy Cook and Pete Kelly as specification managers to expand use of its wood fibre insulation systems ahead of the UK Future Homes and Building Standards. The pair will support architects, housebuilders and contractors with project-specific design, U‑value and moisture calculations, modelling and installation guidance for rigid boards, flexible batts and air‑injected wood fibre products in both new build and retrofit. Cook brings joinery, site management and energy‑efficient construction experience from Ecological Building Systems and Verdancy Group, while Kelly adds 25 years’ experience including bio-based materials work at Adaptavate and CPD delivery.

Neo Performance Materials has produced its first separated terbium and dysprosium oxides from mixed rare earth carbonate at the newly commissioned solvent extraction line at its Silmet plant in Estonia, now running at nameplate capacity. The heavy rare earth output is designed to feed Neo’s sintered magnet plant in Narva, which opened in September as Europe’s first mass-production facility with an initial capacity of 2,000 tonnes per year. Neo is now concentrating on stabilising product purity before ramping to routine production, while maintaining full traceability across its European light and heavy rare earth value chain.

Approval of a 60 per cent Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) concrete mix by VicRoads for road and transport projects across Victoria marks a major shift in allowable low-carbon binders for state infrastructure. The mix, developed and trialled with Geoquest Australia, replaces the majority of Portland cement with SCMs such as fly ash and slag, cutting embodied carbon while maintaining performance to VicRoads specifications. Designers and contractors can now specify substantially higher SCM contents on VicRoads projects without seeking project-by-project exemptions.