Bristol firm produces world's first plasterboard to store carbon permanently

Bristol-based Adaptavate, which develops low-carbon and carbon-negative building materials, revealed it has produced the world's first plasterboard, which can store carbon permanently.

The potentially game-changing technology can take around 1kg of CO2 out of the atmosphere for every square metre of plasterboard produced, meaning it is absorbing and storing more carbon than it produces.

READ MORE: Adaptavate raises £2m to develop and industrialise carbon negative construction materials

"Our new carbon-negative and carbon-storing technology marks a significant milestone and step forward not only for Adaptavate, a business I founded a decade ago, but also for the global construction industry as a whole," said Tom Robinson, founder and CEO of Adaptavate.

"Plasterboard is one of the most heavily used construction materials after cement and steel, in an industry that produces around 40% of the world’s carbon emissions.

"As a former builder, the potential impact of putting carbon storing building materials in the hands of every builder, architect and developer around the world as a drop-in solution is massive in our global endeavour to decarbonise construction.

"This announcement demonstrates with a real-world example of how we can do this and have a successful business on a global scale."

Adaptavate said its technology allows for CO2 savings through both its product formulation and manufacturing. It is made possible by the use of char, which is produced by the pyrolysis of ligno-cellulosic materials. This locks the CO2 sequestered by plants into a stable state and subsequently into the board, preventing it from being released through decay.

Unlike conventional board production, the process requires no natural gas and can absorb low concentration CO2 in the curing process.

Developing the technology and the pilot line for the board’s production has been made possible by UK Government grants (Innovate UK), and investment from a group of climate-focused businesses dedicated to accelerating carbon removal within construction, the company added.

Jeff Ive, chief technical officer (CTO) at Adaptavate, said: "The production of full-sized permanently carbon-storing plasterboard is a major step forward for Adaptavate and the scale up of our regenerative material solutions.

"We have brought together a systemic solution for carbon dioxide removal that is required on a global scale, and matched it with a product that is used on a similar scale. With our licencing business model, we aim to deliver these systemic innovations at a rate that the planet needs them."