Can your drywall be used to fight climate change? It can if it comes from the UK-based company, Adaptavate, which has developed a way to turn captured carbon dioxide into one of the most common building materials in the world.
Adaptavate is one of several new companies that are trying to find uses for carbon dioxide, or ways to trap the gases rather than have them continue to contribute to global warming.
Companies are looking to convert carbon dioxide into plastics, chemicals, and even fuels (in an attempt to create a circular fuel industry), but drywall and cement may hold the most promise.
That's because they're among the most permanent ways to keep the carbon dioxide from getting back into the atmosphere.
Businesses like Carbicrete, CarbonCure, and Solidia are all working on sequestering carbon dioxide in the world's most abundant construction material -- cement. Adaptavate is going after another common building material.
The business uses agricultural waste and a lime-based binding agent that absorbs carbon dioxide, according to a Bloomberg report. Its technology removes the need for gypsum, which has a high emissions profile and is widely used across the construction industry.
"Our technology is a direct alternative to the third-most used building material in the world,” Tom Robinson, the founder and managing director of Adaptavate, told Bloomberg. “It’s on everyone's walls.”
In all, some 8.4 billion square meters of drywall was sold in 2020, according to data from Mordor Intelligence cited by Bloomberg.
And while Adaptavate's product is twice as expensive as the low-end drywall on the market, the company can compete with other premium products that offer additional benefits to consumers.