6 | Acquisition International, Research & Development Awards 2023 Best Sustainable Construction Products & Carbon Capture Tech Company 2023 .C.O Technology was founded in 2010 with the goal of commercialising a technology that would help to further the circular economy and enable companies to achieve improved sustainability performance according to the waste hierarchy. When its first manufacturing facility opened in 2012, the company was a pioneer in its field. Prior to this, the waste materials that it now recycles were predominantly sent to landfill. O.C.O Technology’s mission is to provide effective waste valorisation solutions and assist in the global drive towards net zero. Every year, the company recycles 170,000 tonnes of waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill. It captures over 18,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, converting it into more than 350,000 tonnes of manufactured limestone, which saves the extraction of natural stone for use in construction. O.C.O Technology is an expert in carbon capture through Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT). It is a genuine Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) process in which carbon dioxide is permanently captured as stable carbonate minerals. In ACT, very little energy is required. Instead, the process relies on the reactivity of the waste material, since many wastes are naturally reactive with carbon dioxide in the presence of water. If the conditions are carefully controlled, this natural reaction can be accelerated. With water acting as a solvent, carbon dioxide and calcium ions can readily react, enabling the formation of calcium carbonate (manufactured limestone) in minutes rather than years. ACT can serve as an effective waste treatment process that stabilises contaminants, improves handling of waste, and reduces disposal costs. Many different types of wastes can be readily treated with ACT and rendered significantly less hazardous, including bottom ashes, boiler ashes, fly ashes, FGTs and APCrs, dross, slags, and mineral by-products. This means that the process has applications in many industries, including municipal, sewage, and biomass energy recovery, manufacture of cement, steels, and metals, quarrying, and mining. Moreover, ACT can also valorise wastes into sustainable materials for construction, including O.C.O Technology’s carbon neutral aggregate. Named M-LS (Manufactured Limestone), the product is produced in three commercially operating plants across the UK and is supplied to the construction industry. The aggregate can be tailored for use in different applications by adjusting its strength, diversity, and grading. M-LS is carbon neutral because, through ACT, carbon dioxide is permanently sequestered as stable carbonate minerals. Amazingly, every 1,000 tonnes of O.C.O Technology’s aggregate captures the same amount of carbon dioxide as planting 4,000 trees a year. Furthermore, for every tonne of M-LS used, a total of 1.4 tonnes of natural aggregate is saved, preserving a natural material that can never be replaced. Today, O.C.O Technology continues to develop new environmentally friendly products. Its technology can be applied to a multitude of applications, including the production of bricks, blocks, tiles, slabs, and conventional cementitious materials, all made from waste. As a pioneering technology-based SME, O.C.O Technology has faced the significant challenge of establishing itself in a market dominated by large corporations and multinational organisations. Launching a new product in a traditionally conservative industry, the company has found market penetration difficult. However, with many organisations coming to embrace the concept of the circular economy over time, it has been able to gain traction thanks to the sustainable credentials of its unique product. Considering its success in manufacturing a product with exceptional sustainability credentials, achieving carbon negativity, utilising tonnes of recovered materials for raw feed, and preserving huge amounts of natural resources, it goes without saying that sustainability is an integral part of O.C.O Technology and its operations. Internally, O.C.O Technology operates based on a sustainability policy that encompasses all three pillars of the issue: environmental, social, and economic. As a business, it works to enhance its already strong position in this area by investing in research and development, reducing its energy, utility, and material usage, minimising transport, promoting training and development, and encouraging diversity in the workplace. Furthermore, the company actively works with its upstream and downstream stakeholders, assisting them in their efforts to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. Having completed more than a decade of operations, O.C.O Technology believes that research and development has played a significant role With three factories in the UK and operations across the globe, O.C.O Technology is one of very few carbon mineralisation companies in the world, specialising in carbon capture, sustainable construction products, and waste treatment. Built on over two decades of award-winning research and development, Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) has helped O.C.O Technology to become a world leader in the permanent capture of carbon dioxide. O Jul23276
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