Scottish building materials company Kenoteq has been nominated for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize 2025 after developing a brick made from nearly 100% recycled construction waste.
K-Briq produces around 95% less carbon emissions than traditional clay bricks with the same performance and can be recycled, the company says.
The brick, which Kenoteq says is “one of the world’s most sustainable building bricks”, was recently certified by the British Board of Agrément and achieved an A-class fire rating in its Medero Dark Grey variant.
According to Kenoteq, switching to K-Briq in a standard UK two-bedroom house comprising around 12,000 bricks would cut carbon emissions from 5.46 tonnes to 0.2 tonnes of CO2e – the equivalent of taking a car off the road for a year.
Kenoteq’s East Lothian facility near Edinburgh can currently produce two million bricks annually, with the capacity to double production as demand grows.
A truly transformative solution
Sam Chapman, co-founder and executive director of Kenoteq, said: “Being nominated for the Earthshot Prize is fantastic recognition for our team’s work in developing a truly transformative solution to construction’s environmental crisis. Unlike approaches that simply treat the symptoms of the industry’s environmental impact, the K-Briq addresses the root cause by utilising industry waste to deliver a product that performs exactly like clay bricks.
“The construction industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact while maintaining high standards of quality and safety. Our nomination demonstrates that these goals are not mutually exclusive – we can build better while building greener. This global recognition will help us scale our impact and work towards a more sustainable future for construction.”
Kenoteq was nominated by Arup and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The Earthshot Prize awards £1m annually to five winners for their contributions towards environmentalism and addressing the climate emergency. The winners for this year’s edition will be announced at a ceremony on 5 November at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro.
