A Heriot-Watt University spin-out has been awarded £1m funding by Zero Waste Scotland to commercialise production of its eco-friendly bricks.
Kenoteq will use the money to produce more than two million of its K-Briqs, which are made from around 90% recycled demolition and construction waste materials.
The bricks produce a tenth of the carbon dioxide emissions of a traditional fired brick and require less than a tenth of energy to manufacture.
The idea was conceived following more than a decade of research and development into low-carbon products from recycled construction waste by professor Gabriela Medero.
The funding comes from the Circular Economy Investment Fund, which is administered by Zero Waste Scotland, but funded by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
The funding will also let the company create 15 new jobs in manufacturing, production, quality assurance, marketing and sales roles during the next five years.
Sam Chapman, managing director at Kenoteq, said: “The industry sends more than 800 million tonnes of waste to landfill in Europe every year, at a huge cost to itself and the environment.
“The K-Briq presents an opportunity for the construction sector to reduce landfill, limit reliance on finite resources and take advantage of waste materials to create a more sustainable and ecologically viable built environment.”
Iain Gulland, chief executive at Zero Waste Scotland, added: “As nations around the world commit to building a greener future, the K-Briq presents an achievable solution for one of the construction industry’s greatest challenges.
"Kenoteq is an excellent example of the abundant pioneering innovation in Scotland which can help to place us at the forefront of the global circular economy frontier.”
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