Scottish start-up Kenoteq developed a brick made of recycled construction waste that has a carbon footprint of less than 5% of a traditional clay brick.
Traditional bricks have a large carbon footprint because the clay has to be fired at high temperatures. The UK is the largest single brick market in Europe, with over 2.6 billion bricks used in 2019 in UK. 85% of bricks used in Scottish new builds were imported to Scotland in 2018 because of localised supply constraints.
Kenoteq is a Scottish clean tech spin-out from Heriot-Watt University launched in August 2019. They developed the so-called K-BRIQ®, a construction brick made with over 90% recycled construction waste. In addition, the brick does not to be fired at high temperatures, virgin cement and high volumes of clay for its production. The brick can be used for the same applications as traditional bricks, both interior and exterior.
The brick is available in a range of thirteen stock colours, all made from recycled pigments. Kenoteq also offers a colour matching service and can produce bespoke options with recycled pigments.
The K-BRIQ® is in its final stages of BBA certification in the UK allowing its commercial use from Spring 2023. Its Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certificate and Design Guide will also be available in early 2023.
Photos: Kenoteq