Start-up making eco-bricks from soil opens first UK factory in Sheffield
“We have found Sheffield to be a very supportive place to have a start-up”
A company making eco-bricks from compressed soil has set up its first UK factory in Sheffield.
earth4Earth will manufacture products it claims have ‘the same or better’ performance than traditional oven-made bricks.
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The firm has launched a factory employing five on Farfield Road in Neepsend and aims to hire 20 by the end of next year.
Key to its products are a lime-based chemical ‘binder’ that hardens at room temperature, developed at Sheffield University.
earth4Earth has had £6.5m of private investment to develop the product and establish a factory in China. Some £2m is being invested in Sheffield, according to Lei Zhang, founder and director of earth4Earth.
He added: “We have found Sheffield to be a very supportive place to have a start-up, and we are thrilled to be opening our first UK factory in the city.
“There is such a friendly and welcoming business community, and we have made so many invaluable connections here. We are looking forward to continuing our journey in the city.”
According to the UK Environmental Audit Committee, the built environment accounts for 25 per cent of the UK’s total carbon footprint.
earth4Earth says it will use soil excavated from building sites that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
Other claimed green credentials include the lime-based binder absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and storing it permanently, even after the material is recycled.
The bricks are recyclable and can be crushed and made into new bricks or returned to the earth for crop growth, the company says.
A spokesman said: “As a result of decarbonisation of the production process, and the direct capture of carbon dioxide, the bricks and brick slips are carbon negative across their life cycle.
“But their properties, such as compressive strength, are the same or better than traditional oven-made bricks.”