Carbon Craft Design, founded in 2019 by Mumbai-based Tejas Sidnal, is making carbon tiles from polluted air using a zero-waste process.
Tiles from Tyre Pyrolysis Char
India has been recording an ongoing increase in PM 2.5 pollution since 2010. According to the World Air Quality Report, 14 of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities are located in India with the building and infrastructure industry contributing 39 per cent of the total energy-related carbon emissions.
With the intention of creating a commercial solution to curb carbon emission, Tejas Sidnal started Carbon Craft Design, a Mumbai based start-up that is turning pollution into carbon tiles.
Tejas was inspired by a company, Air Ink, that turns soot into ink, and began exploring how pollution can be converted into building materials. In May 2019, Carbon Craft Design launched its first carbon tile production. The manufacturing of the carbon tiles is a three-step process. First, carbon is collected from tyre pyrolysis factories, it is then processed and finally converted into tiles at a manufacturing unit located in Morbi, Gujarat. The entire process of making these tiles consumes one-fifth of the energy required to make vitrified tiles and reduces air pollution by 30,000 litres of carbon for each tile made.
“When we realised that 39 per cent of energy-related carbon emissions are due to the building and infrastructure industry, it made sense to look at air pollution as a larger issue,” Tejas says.
Apart from having a zero-waste manufacturing process Carbon Craft Design provides employment to local artisans by incorporating traditional techniques into the manufacturing process.
This project creates a market for the considerable volumes of pyrolysis char that is created in India every year. Finding markets for pyrolysis char is not always easy, as it cannot always be substituted for Carbon Black in rubber and plastics production due to impurities in the char.
Source: Better India
