By Katie Tincello
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The building blocks of tomorrow’s infrastructure are already here. Materials makers and tech companies have developed lower-carbon concrete, recycled asphalt and smarter plastics for everyday parts like pipes and cables. They’re ready to go, so what’s holding the industry back?
Leaders from across the infrastructure supply chain at Newsweek's Pillars of Stability event during Climate Week NYC 2026 said that the toolbox is ready, but the rulebook is outdated. Innovation has turned sustainability goals into real products. Now we need to get permission to use them.
Old ingredients, new recipes
It starts with standard materials and a sprinkling of “fairy dust,” Patty Mishic O’Brien, chief growth and sustainability officer at Teknor Apex, told Newsweek. The company “takes a resin of material and adds the fairy dust to make it better for you,” she said.
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That “fairy dust” could be anything from UV protection to higher durability or better wires and cables in data centers. With sustainable materials and advanced technologies, the possibilities are unbound. “We're working with startups, innovative companies, to bring those materials in and marry them with our materials,” O’Brien said. Teknor Apex is working with a startup partner that captures methane, a waste greenhouse gas, and turns it into a plastic-like material.
Concrete is getting the same treatment, with some help from AI. Builders want a product that is “strong, fast, sustainable, available, reliable, workable," all at once, Julius Kusuma, principal research scientist at Meta, told Newsweek. It’s a complex ask, but with AI, Meta has created a mix that is "faster, stronger, more sustainable, and you can build it using today's available ingredients," Kusuma said.
It all comes back to new technology development. “I think it’s a really exciting time because there are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of opportunities here,” Kusuma said. O’Brien shares the view. AI “can accelerate innovation. And if we're all communicating and aligned, and working together, it's just going to accelerate that even more,” she added.
What’s holding us back
Despite progress on the technology side, there is caution when it comes to using alternative materials at scale. Some state transportation departments cap recycled asphalt at about 20% of the mix in new pavement, Eunice Heath, chief sustainability officer at CRH, told Newsweek. The reason is concern for the durability of the road surface, even though CRH has shown “we can put back in 40%, sometimes 60%,” creating a “35% reduction in carbon emissions,” she said.
On a more structural level, building specifications can prevent the use of green building materials. “Those specifications are made from materials of yesterday,” O’Brien said. “The innovation is there, the materials are there.” She’s not alone in her view. “We can do it today. But the permitting process is fragmented,” Heath agreed.
Moving forward will mean working with government agencies to “get the changes that are needed,” said O’Brien. It needs to happen now too, because new materials take 12 to 24 months to reach scale.
If companies are to reach 2030 climate goals, they will have to start making changes today, but only if the regulations allow them to.
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