Kiln-free recycled tile startup agrees pilot deal with major UK supplier
A Manchester startup has won a pilot with Johnson Tiles to test kiln-free recycled tiles in Stoke-on-Trent, aiming to cut energy use and revive UK ceramics.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Dekiln, a Manchester-based startup, is partnering with Johnson Tiles on a trial site in Stoke-on-Trent to scale a tile-making process that avoids kilns and uses recycled waste. The deal arrives as Britain’s ceramics sector faces soaring energy costs and factory closures.
A small company has made a new kind of tile without using a super-hot oven called a kiln. It uses old waste materials instead, like turning scraps into something useful, the way a craft project can become a real tool.
A big tile supplier is helping test it in Stoke-on-Trent, a place famous for making ceramics. The hope is that this new way uses much less power and could help factories save money.
The new tiles are not ready for everything yet. They work indoors on walls, but the company still needs to improve them for floors and outside use.
Analysis
What the deal is
Dekiln, a Manchester startup led by biomaterials engineer Aled Roberts, is teaming up with Johnson Tiles on a pilot manufacturing site in Stoke-on-Trent. The idea is to test whether Dekiln’s kiln-free tiles can be scaled in a setting tied to one of Britain’s best-known ceramics centres.
How the tiles are made
The tiles are made from recycled plaster or gypsum waste mixed with plant-based binders. Instead of being fired in kilns at extremely high temperatures, they are cured on a drying rack at 35C. Roberts says that avoids the energy-heavy part of tile production and cuts energy costs by more than 90%. The company says the tiles contain more than 95% recycled content.
Why this matters now
The announcement comes just days after the UK government set out a £120m support package for ceramics, following a wave of company failures linked to soaring energy prices. The article says the number of ceramics companies in North Staffordshire has fallen from 137 in 2018 to 123 in 2024, and local leaders say gas prices have badly hurt the sector since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The limits and the upside
Johnson Tiles stopped manufacturing in 2024, but says a successful pilot could help it restart production at its former Stoke factory using Dekiln’s process. The technology is not yet ready for every use: it is waterproof, but currently only suitable indoors on walls, not outdoors or on floors.
Dekiln also says its process helps by taking plaster waste from the ceramics industry for free, which can save suppliers disposal fees. The business is backed by Green Angel Ventures and Frontier IP, and won £3m from the Royal Academy of Engineering in December. Roberts says he hopes to license the technology and work with other tile makers if the pilot goes well.
Key points
- Dekiln and Johnson Tiles are launching a pilot project in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Dekiln’s tiles are made from recycled plaster or gypsum waste and plant-based binders.
- The process avoids high-temperature kilns and claims to cut energy costs by more than 90%.
- The pilot lands amid wider strain on the UK ceramics industry from high energy prices.
- The tiles are currently suitable only for indoor wall use, not floors or outdoor use.
