Revolutionizing Recycling - Concrete Newthink Concrete Mill

We have a dream

Markus Leer, our founder, has twenty years of concrete experience, ranging from major civic projects to artistic creations in decorative concrete and design.  Working with concrete for so long it’s no wonder he’s come up with a lot of ideas for taking the demolished concrete that gets ripped up on construction and landscaping jobs and turning the waste into something useful and beautiful.  One sunny day, working on a backyard project, he was struck by how beautiful the aggregate rock in concrete is when it’s revealed.  That’s how Concrete Newthink began.  Our business takes demolished concrete, puts it through our patent pending six step process, and creates stunning pavers, retaining wall blocks, and other landscaping materials.  Our products are durable, beautiful, unique and most importantly sustainably superior to other recycled landscaping products.

Our goal with this Indiegogo project is to build our first milling machine so we can get our business running on a larger scale.  Our machine manufacturer is ready to go and we’ve begun working with their engineers.  All your donations - small, medium and large will be put directly into the business.  When this funding campaign is over on Dec 15^th we will:  hit the green light with our manufacturer, rent property for our operations and begin to set up our paver manufacturing process.

Build it and they will come

The process we used to make all the pavers in our exhibition yard (see picture above) was done using small-scale machines and tools.  The process is labor-intensive and impractical for large scale manufacturing.  To take our vision to the next level we need to build a custom tailored concrete mill.  We have found an enthusiastic machine manufacturer that is ready to work on the engineering and manufacturing of our machine, now all we need is funding.        

Pay it forward

Your support of our business will impact three key areas:

Business start-up capital:

• We need to raise capital to get our business off the ground. The mill is a very important building block to getting our heavy equipment based business up and running.
• We need to get investors excited about our business by showing them people care about our project, our products and our vision.
• We need to show investors we have the drive to generate our own capital campaign. This project shows our determination and its success will encourage future investor backing.

Research and Development:

• We need $50,000 to build our patent pending, groundbreaking milling machine. Our mill takes concrete rubble and turns it into stunning 100% recycled landscaping materials such as pavers and retaining wall blocks. This type of machine does not exist yet, so we need to build it.
• Our manufacturer and their engineering team are eager to build our machine and other machine designs we have in the works.  We need capital to get started. Our ability to raise capital also shows other manufacturers that we are to be taken seriously and are in the game.

Altruism – job creation and planet sustainability:

• Our business has created jobs and will continue to do so as we grow.
• If you support us now we can support others as we become established and successful.
• Recycling our planets resources is vital to our future as are our country's small business owners. Funding our project shows that people care about our planet and support our small businesses even during challenging times.

What you get for your support

Markus is an accomplished artisan in many media. An aggregate of skills in concrete, architecture and metal work lend a hand in all of his designs. Concrete is one of his favorite mediums to create form and beauty through.

Do you need an idea for a unique gift? How about a piece of art for yourself? The incentives offered to you are much more than a token of rejuvenated concrete, they are created by a renowned artist. You can have a piece of concrete art and be a part of the answer to keep concrete out of our landfills. The added bonus is reducing our carbon footprint while culminating things of beauty that are built to last.

We also have light-hearted perks for holiday presents.  If you don’t see the perk you really want but have an idea for one let us know.  We are creative and might be able to accommodate your request.  If you have a yard, driveway or walkway you want done in our pavers let us know.  We’ll take whatever you fund us with and credit it towards your job.  You must live in the San Francisco Bay Area for paver jobs, because that’s where we live and will be setting up our facility. 

 Nuts and bolts of our machine

With your generous donations, we will build our concrete milling machine, as described in our patent pending.  Our milling machine is a key step in our revolutionary process that converts unwanted concrete into green building materials with an “Old-World” look that is both affordable and uniquely beautiful. Our concrete milling machine makes possible our new proprietary process for milling 100% recycled concrete for the purpose of recycling it into new products.  It mills off the surface of a concrete block/slab of varying thickness as it moves down a conveyor.

This offers a solution to a problem existing in the concrete recycling industry, allowing torn out concrete to be manufactured into other concrete products without pulverizing and re-casting the material. The prototype will be used to prove our claim that concrete of varying thicknesses can be forced through a milling machine to provide a smooth even surface, without compromising strength and integrity.  Currently there is no machine available that offers this capability. We believe the machine and technology will be a revolutionary advancement and valuable addition to the concrete recycling industry.

We are excited and laser-focused on developing concrete recycling technology because recycling is not only cool, but necessary. Our recycled concrete pavers are stunningly beautiful, unique and more durable than anything comparable on the market.

Solutions and challenges

Challenge: To devise and configure the carbide points that will strike the concrete surface, performing the milling.

Solution: Many manufactures provide carbide and Tungsten attachments and points for milling devices and we have consulted several of these companies. They have engineers that can help us with this endeavor and have been helpful in trouble shooting potential advantages and challenges with concrete block milling. Through innovation and networking we can accomplish our goal of a milling drum suitable for conveyor delivered concrete block milling.

Challenge: The RPM and HP crucial for effective and efficient operation - particularly when it comes to the economy of the carbide points and the impact forces applied to the material.

Solution: Engineers have been consulted and further engineering will be required in order to match the specifications of the motor to the task of producing and holding the necessary RPM of the milling drum. We have consulted several domestic and international manufactures of road construction milling equipment and will do further engineering as the project requires. We have been advised by engineers of one such manufacturer that our process will be possible with some trouble shooting and the construction of a scaled down model will be useful during this phase of development. Implementation of a hold down or stabilization mechanisms may be required to perform the task efficiently. We also have developed some designs for a cutting mechanism to take place prior to milling if the required depth of milling is too great for the mill.

Challenge: The properties and design of the conveyor system.  In particular, the design of the belting to provide friction sufficient to secure the concrete block, while providing sufficient support resisting the forces of the milling device.

Solution: Several conveyor manufactures have been consulted about the conveyor for this project. The conveyor will have adjustable speed and will be designed to move the weight of the concrete and resist the forces of the concrete mill.

If you have questions about our product, our company or about us go to our website.  There you’ll see videos on our process, pictures of our exhibition yard and lots of other information.

Thanks everyone! We really appreciate all your interest in our project and more importantly our vision. Recycling is the future and we want our revolutionary ideas to be a major part of it.  Tell all your friends about us.

- Markus and Kalen

Please visit us on our website: http://www.concretenewthink.com/index.html

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