O.C.O Technology Ltd, a winner of the King’s Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, is a leader in carbon capture and the manufacture of sustainable construction products. With a £30 million turnover and employing some 120 people across four UK locations, O.C.O also shares its expertise on the international stage, with current projects underway in Asia, North America, Australia and Europe. The award highlights O.C.O’s strength in delivering innovative processes and products as part of a low carbon, circular economy. Built on more than 20 years of award-winning research, O.C.O’s patented Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT) uses carbon dioxide as a resource to treat waste materials, predominantly Air Pollution Control residue (APCr) from the Energy from Waste (EfW) sector. Permanently capturing CO 2 The recycling process transforms the APCr into a manufactured limestone aggregate and, because more CO 2 is permanently captured than is used at the manufacturing stage, the end product is recognised as the world’s first carbon negative aggregate. The solution achieves the dual benefits of offering EfW operators a more sustainable alternative to landfill for the residues produced, thereby adding value to their environmental performance; and secondly, it provides the construction sector with an innovative product for greener building projects. The aggregate has already been used in award- winning projects such as the Bromford Flood Alleviation Scheme, supported by the Environment Agency, where it formed part of a groundbreaking low carbon asphalt mix used in the construction of a low carbon cycle path. In 2023, the company recycled over 200,000 tonnes of waste that was destined for landfill, produced over 500,000 tonnes of manufactured limestone (known as M-LS), and permanently captured over 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – figures that are increasing year-on-year. O.C.OTechnology Ltd
Steve Greig (right) demonstrates aggregate used in a COP26 sculpture
The company’s carbon negative aggregate used in sustainable construction products.
One of O.C.O’s UK carbon capture and manufacturing facilities.
O.C.O Chief Executive Officer Steve Greig, says: “We are hugely proud to be awarded such a prestigious honour, cementing our reputation as the clear UK market leader in carbon mineralisation. “To have our hard work acknowledged at the highest level is incredibly rewarding. We look forward to flying the flag for British success and the circular economy, as we continue to develop our partnerships both in this country and on the world stage, supporting many more organisations in their drive towards cutting carbon emissions.” Investing in the future Formed in 2010, O.C.O opened its first UK operation two years later at its headquarters in Brandon, Suffolk, and now has three further facilities nationwide. The latest investment saw the opening of a £10 million manufacturing facility in Wretham, Norfolk, in autumn 2023, bringing in excess of 20 new jobs to the area. In response to demand, the operation
has already received consent for a further £5m expansion programme, which will enable the facility to process up to 100,000 tonnes of residues per annum and produce around 250,000 tonnes of manufactured aggregate. Other locations are at Avonmouth, which includes the company’s main research and development laboratories; as well as an operation in Leeds, where production was expanded in 2023. Together, O.C.O’s facilities treat waste from a number of major regional and UK EfW operators, including Viridor, Encyclis and enfinium. O.C.O is currently one of only a few companies in the UK to hold Environment Agency ‘End of Waste’ approval, classifying the finished aggregate as a ‘product’. O.C.OTECHNOLOGY LTD Larkshall Mill, Thetford Road, Wretham, Norfolk, IP24 1QY Tel: 01953 573111 • info@oco.co.uk • www.oco.co.uk @ ocotechnology o-c-o-technology-ltd
O.C.O’s Director of Technology and Sustainability, Dr Peter Gunning.
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