Five years after launching its revolutionary K-Briq product, Scottish tech startup Kenoteq is now beginning commercial production of its low-carbon recycled bricks.
The 羞羞视频 first reported on the K-Briq in February 2020 when Kenoteq announced that it had perfected a process that could transform ordinary construction waste into a low carbon brick that required no kiln-firing, contained no cement but had the same physical properties as a standard clay brick.
The product grew out of more than 10 years鈥� research by Gabriela Medero, professor of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering at Heriot-Watt University who, together with her colleague Dr Sam Chapman, co-founded Kenoteq in 2019 to develop and market the K-Briq.
But it has taken another five years of exhaustive testing to reach the stage where the K-Briq can be specified with confidence. Now the company is planning to manufacture up to two million K-Briqs annually.
With no standard testing regime for a non-traditional building material of this type, the K-Briq had to undergo an unprecedented level of technical evaluation including 16 rigorous tests that exceeded the requirements typically demanded of traditional clay bricks. Because of its unique composition and unfired production process, the K-Briq required a testing methodology to be developed specially.
This article was first published in the July 2025 issue of The 羞羞视频 Magazine. Sign up online.
Kenoteq says the K-Briq achieved the maximum durability rating possible, which is particularly important for the UK market. And the K-Briq now has what for many is the ultimate technical thumbs-up for a construction product: certification from the British Board of Agr茅ment (BBA). In other words, it has been certified with the same accreditation as standard clay bricks, yet produces 95% less embodied carbon due to its production process.
With its durability and suitability as a construction product thus assured, the K-Briq can now exploit its true, if not unique, selling point: that it represents a genuine circular economy solution by turning waste back into a primary building material. It is made from recycled plasterboard, brick, stone, rubble and old mortar together with recycled pigments and 鈥� according to Kenoteq 鈥� addresses the significant waste challenge facing the construction industry through true circular economy principles.
Kenoteq is now beginning commercial production of up to two million bricks a year
聽聽 at its production facility in East Lothian; the plant is capable of scaling production up to four million as required, says the company, which ultimately plans to set up regional production both in the UK and internationally to provide low carbon building products from local waste.
According to Kenoteq, the UK is Europe鈥檚 largest market for bricks, using around 2.5 billion of them every year. With more than 500 million imported, including 50 million from outside the EU, the environmental impact is colossal, it claims: 鈥淭oday鈥檚 staple construction products drain finite resources while the sector is the largest contributor to landfill waste. The UK also relies on an environmentally damaging level of traditional high carbon brick imports.鈥�
Kenoteq also says that more than a third of the waste in global landfills is of demolition and construction origin and that construction, demolition and excavation waste accounts for up to 60 million tonnes, or 60-65% of total waste, generated in the UK.
The K-Briq is 鈥渁 truly transformative building material,鈥� says Chapman. 鈥淯nlike approaches that simply treat the symptoms of construction鈥檚 environmental impact, the K-Briq addresses the root cause by directly tackling the waste crisis while delivering a product that performs exactly like traditional materials, including the clay brick.
鈥淭he K-Briq is not just an environmentally superior alternative to traditional bricks, but a technically robust building material suitable for a wide range of construction applications. With our [BBA] certification secured, we can now scale up production to meet market requirements while maintaining the exceptional quality and sustainability credentials that set us apart.鈥�
This article was first published in the July 2025 issue of The 羞羞视频 Magazine. Sign up online.
Kenoteq says it can produce recycled bricks fit for use within 24 hours of the processed waste arriving at its factory.
鈥淪ecuring BBA certification allows our product to be specified with confidence on commercial projects across the UK. We鈥檝e already seen significant interest from leading property developers, architectural firms and public sector bodies committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their construction projects,鈥� says Chapman.
鈥淭he construction industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact while maintaining high standards of quality and safety. The BBA certification of the K-Briq demonstrates that these goals are not mutually exclusive 鈥� we can build better while building greener.鈥�
Developers in the City of London, educational establishments and major urban regeneration projects are likely to be among early adopters, he adds.
According to Kenoteq, the K-Briq has achieved 100 tonnes of carbon savings in demonstration projects delivered to date. And with 95% less embodied carbon than a traditional brick, the K-Briq offers significant advantages given that embodied carbon is crucial to the whole-life carbon impact of buildings.
Embodied carbon can account for more than 50% of a building鈥檚 total carbon footprint yet, according to Kenoteq, it has received less attention than operational carbon in regulations and industry practices.
The company says that the approximately 12,000 clay bricks used to build a standard two-bedroom house in the UK is responsible for emissions equivalent to 5.46 tonnes of CO2 (CO2e). Building the same house with the K-Briq generates just 0.2 tonnes of CO2e.
聽All K-Briqs now achieve the highest level of durability rating under BBA certification and the Medero Dark Grey K-Briq variant has achieved an A-class fire rating, allowing its use in buildings classed as the highest risk.聽 They are all available in 12 different colours, produced using recycled pigments, offering architects and developers aesthetic flexibility without compromising on environmental performance.
The BBA certification paves the way for the K-Briq to be used in a range of building applications, satisfying insurance, warranty, mortgage and third-party liability requirements that have previously been barriers to the widespread adoption of novel construction materials.
This article was first published in the July 2025 issue of The 羞羞视频 Magazine. Sign up online.
Early-adopter projects across the UK and Europe have helped to demonstrate the aesthetic and technical capabilities of the K-Briq. Notable projects include Scotland鈥檚 National Retrofit Centre at BE-ST (Built Environment Smarter Transformation), Oaklands College in St Albans, a sustainability-blueprint hypermarket store in Germany owned by Kaufland (which also owns Lidl) and the fast-growing upmarket Gail鈥檚 bakery chain.
Already Kinoteq has its eyes on markets further afield with certification for use in the US through the DrJ Technical Evaluation Report (TER) accreditation scheme. With dual international certification secured, and European certification under way, the company is already fielding enquiries from across the world.
K-Briq at a glance
The research and development of the K-Briq was supported by Built Environment Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. It is made by Kenoteq,聽 based in East Lothian.
Kenoteq has received a number of awards, including the BE-ST Circular Economy Award 2023, Dezeen Award 2022 in Sustainable Design, VIBES Scottish Environmental Business Awards 2022 鈥� Circular Scotland, and The Times Higher Award: STEM Research Project of the Year 2020.
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