Carbon8 Aggregates Ltd is a British company which applies patented "accelerated carbonation technology" to solidify waste residues produced by the

incineration Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other hig ...

of garbage. Carbon8's accelerated carbonation processes make the wastes of garbage incineration cheaper to dispose of and produce aggregates which can then be used as construction materials. Carbon8 aggregates claim to be the world's first

carbon negative Carbon dioxide removal (CDR), also known as negative emissions, is a process in which carbon dioxide gas () is removed from the atmosphere and sequestered for long periods of time. Similarly, greenhouse gas removal (GGR) or negative greenh ...

aggregates. In 2012, the

University of Greenwich , mottoeng = "To learn, to do, to achieve" , former_name = Woolwich Polytechnic(1890–1970)Thames Polytechnic(1970–1992) , established = , type = Public university , budget = £214.9 million (2020) , administrative_staff = , chancel ...

said that the processes commercialised by Carbon8 Aggregates and its affiliate Carbon8 Systems also had potential use in the management of nuclear wastes. As of 2015, Carbon8 Aggregates are producing aggregates at a facility in

Brandon, Suffolk Brandon is a town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. Brandon is located in the Breckland area of Suffolk, close to the adjoining county of Norfolk. It lies between the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Thetford, Mildenhall, Downham M ...

and another facility at Avonmouth near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

is under construction.

History

Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) was first developed by researchers working at UCL and the

. Research into the use of ACT in the treatment of municipal solid waste was received in 2002 and augmented with further industrial funding. Dr Colin Hills, Director of the Centre for Contaminated Land Remediation at the University of Greenwich' was responsible for patenting Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT). In 2006 the company Carbon8 Systems Ltd was created to commercialise the processes for waste treatment applications with the University of Greenwich retaining a "significant" stake in the new company. Hills became the Technical Director of Carbon8 Systems and chemical engineer

Stefaan Simons Stefaan J. R. Simons is a chemical engineer and senior academic employed by the University College London. In 2012, he was appointed Director of the International Energy Policy Institute (IEPI) and the inaugural BHP Billiton Chair of Energy Policy ...

became the company's Director of Engineering. Paula Carey became its Managing Director in 2007. The commercial prospects of ACT attracted the interest of Grundon Waste Management, which subsequently invested millions of pounds in the establishment of a new company, Carbon8 Aggregates Ltd. The company was founded in May 2010 and the first location to commercially utilise Carbon8 technology was Grundon's

energy-from-waste Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Mo ...

plant at

Colnbrook Colnbrook is a village in the Slough district in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the Colne, the Colne Brook and Wraysbury River. These two streams have their co ...

. In 2012, an accelerated carbonation plant was commissioned in

, beside Lignacite's masonry plant. A partnership between Carbon8 Aggregates Ltd and Lignacite Ltd resulted in the development of the ''Carbon Buster'' building block. The block was claimed by its inventors to be the first carbon-negative building material of its kind. In 2014, a second line was added to the plant, to meet increasing demand. The plant in Brandon receives flue gas treatment (FGT) residues from the

Colnbrook incinerator The Lakeside EfW is located in Colnbrook, Slough, and is the largest facility of its kind in England. It incinerates residual waste, and since 2010 it has also been authorised to incinerate low-level radioactive waste. Ownership The Lakeside ...

to process into ''Carbon Buster'' blocks. Another Carbon8 Aggregates (C8A) plant was approved for construction at Avondale near

in January 2015.

References

{{Reflist, 25em Building materials companies of the United Kingdom Waste management companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies of England British companies established in 2010 Manufacturing companies established in 2010 Renewable resource companies established in 2010 2010 establishments in England