Published:
Kenoteq, a spin-out from the school of School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, is celebrating its second award in recent weeks after winning the inaugural Herald Pioneer Award for Circular Breakthrough.
The awards promote meaningful shifts towards a more innovative, sustainable and open future for the Scottish economy by recognising and rewarding companies across all business sectors.
Professor Medero, co-founder of Kenoteq, said: “Scotland is building and driving forward its circular economy with pace following the launch of the consultation around the proposed Scottish Government Circular Economy Bill last week.
“With so many exemplar circular economy businesses in development across Scotland, we are extremely proud that Kenoteq has been chosen to receive this accolade. K-Briq, the first product from Kenoteq, is an unfired brick, made from 90% recycled demolition and construction waste materials. It is the result of more than ten years of research and we are proud to be scaling it up to meet both the needs of the construction industry and to support the sustainability targets of both the Scottish and UK governments.
Dr Sam Chapman, co-founder of Kenoteq, said: “K-Briq is produced on site at Hamilton Waste & Recycling, thereby reducing the travel miles involved in its production. Because it is unfired, it produces a tenth of the CO2 emissions of a traditional fired clay brick and requires less than a tenth of the energy in its manufacture.
“Up to 85 per cent of bricks used in Scotland are currently being imported from England or Europe raising considerable questions about the long-term sustainability of the sector. We want to see this change as Scotland works towards lower emission and higher recycling targets.”
Kenoteq is funded and supported by partners including Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre.
Annie Pugh
Press office
E: a.pugh@hw.ac.uk