India is one of the countries with more than 20 cities ranked among the top 50 most polluted cities globally. Every year, over a million people are killed by toxic air. This Air Pollution has been linked to various lungs and heart diseases due to carbon emissions and PM-2.5.
How can carbon emissions be reduced?
Carbon Craft Design, a startup company based in Mumbai, India, has developed a unique product — decorative construction tiles made of air-trapped carbon dioxide. The company’s ambition is to make sustainable carbon tiles to tackling India’s major air pollution problem.
They worked on unique innovation ideas involving capturing pollution (carbon) from the air, an Indian startup that turns pollution into Air-ink and makes carbon tiles.
The carbon black usually comes from a process used to break down used tyres and released them into the air, adding to the pollution. Carbon Craft Design (CCD) works with the tyre processing plants to capture recovered carbon black and then works with artisans in Gujarat to incorporate it into tile patterns.
The main objective of Carbon Craft Design is to develop materials, technologies, and products that can solve social and environmental problems by design.
How it all Started –
Tejas Sidnal founded Carbon Craft Design (CCD) in 2019. He is an architect, biomimetic designer, and biomimicry researcher from Mumbai. With his ambitious mission, the start-up was born to drive and find a commercial solution for the sustainable development of climate change issues.
Sidnal and his team of architects and designers work on a model and material that generally reduces unprocessed carbon and converts it into building materials.
“Each carbon tile is equivalent to cleaning 30,000 litres of air! Moreover, these tiles consume only one-fifth of the energy required to manufacture vitrified tiles. This means, instead of burning the tiles to come up with the finished product, we use a hydraulic press that helps us in manufacturing these tiles.”
Tejas Sidnal, the founder of Carbon Craft Design, told in The Better India.
The company has partnered with Graviky Laboratories to use pollution as a resource and create their brand product. They manufactured their monochromatic carbon tiles with Graviky Lab’s AIRINK technology that turns pollution into ink and converts carbon soot from cars and factories into sustainable products.
The product is made by mixing carbon pigment with cement and marble waste from quarries to produce handcrafted tiles by artisans without leaving a carbon footprint. They also ensured that the whole process consumes the least amount of energy as compared to the conventional ceramic tiles.
Each tile is handmade, and about 70 per cent of each tile is made with recycled materials. The company also claims that one carbon tile is equivalent to preventing 15 minutes of car pollution.
Cost of Carbon Tiles –
They sell their carbon tiles to architects and retailers for ₹190 per square meter – a high price compared to regular ceramic tiles. As compared to vitrified tiles take up five times more energy for production and cost around ₹50, and can go upto ₹1000 per square foot.
Carbon Craft Design (CCD) has launched two series of tiles IdenTile series (standard range) and the IndusTile series (premium range) for their customers.
The company alternative solution is one step to reduce and tackle the world’s air pollution problems and help to fight against climate change. They are also looking to scale up their production and set up the manufacturing plants within their premises to make it a convenient and affordable product in the near future.
Carbon Craft Design (CCD) is currently looking to raise its investment and start its distribution in European countries. Tejas Sidnal and his team have an ultimate vision to construct a carbon-conscious building using each component derived from processing air.
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