Dekiln has partnered with Johnson Tiles to scale its bio-based alternative to ceramic tiles — a product CEO Dr Aled Roberts describes to Proactive’s Stephen Gunnion as something that “looks, feels, behaves like a ceramic tile” but requires no kiln firing. “What we’re offering is an alternative to conventional ceramics that doesn’t need to be fired — much lower energy input costs, much lower carbon footprint,” Roberts says. The timing is well chosen: rising energy costs have hit the UK ceramics industry hard, making a kiln-free alternative increasingly compelling. A £3 million Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship is backing a pilot plant in Stoke-on-Trent, which will use waste plaster of Paris from the pottery industry as a key raw material. Beyond tiles, Dekiln is also exploring sustainable alternatives to concrete.