National Highways has announced the seven companies making the shortlist in its new carbon reduction competition, with each set to receive between £15,000 and £30,000 to develop its ideas.
In phase 1 the seven shortlisted SMEs will receive this seed funding to develop trial proposals in collaboration with National Highways and Tier 1 suppliers.
In phase 2, the shortlist could be whittled down even further based on the proposals, and another £80,000 made available to help the remaining companies carry out their trials.
The seven companies making it through to the first stage are:
- Xeroc Ltd, London - to recycle old concrete into new concrete, returning each component into its original form with as little contamination as possible
- Low Carbon Materials Limited, Seaham – delivering a carbon negative aggregate for use in carbon neutral asphalt
- PRG (Scotland) Limited, Hamilton – to produce a bitumen-like substance which would be useful for road construction and repairs through this application
- Circular11 Ltd, Ferndown – to provide highly durable, vandal resistant and low carbon fencing materials turning mixed low-grade plastic into low carbon infrastructure
- Asset International Structures (A Division of Hill & Smith Infrastructure Ltd), Cwmbran – to develop smart fibre reinforced plastic bridge beams that incorporate a novel optical fibre, enabling structural performance monitoring in real time and over long-term (image below, bridge girder)
- HausBots LTD, Birmingham – to deliver a series of structures inspection by using a unique climbing robot with inspection sensors
- Loop Infinity Ltd, London – to deliver a whole life carbon measurement and circular economy across assets within the highways estate
Connected Places Catapult led a due diligence process, in collaboration with National Highways and Tier Ones, to assess the technical viability of each proposed solution, the prospective impact and the commercial potential of the SME.
National Highways then selected seven companies to join the programme, based on the innovations that will best support its Net Zero plan.
Melissa Giusti, National Highways project manager said: 'In 2021 National Highways set out its Net Zero plan which includes a commitment to net zero emissions from construction and maintenance activity by 2040.
'Material decarbonisation, building less, efficiently using materials, getting things right first time, making their assets last longer and driving change through whole life carbon decision-making are areas that National Highways is going to focus on.
'To address this, National Highways is offering funding to innovators for the development of novel solutions that could help them reach their environmental goals. Many congratulations to all the companies who have made it to this stage and we look forward to seeing them develop their ideas.'
