Dekiln's kiln-free technology challenges a centuries-old manufacturing assumption
Dekiln's sustainable tiles have >95% recycled content and a 94% lower CO2 footprint compared to traditional ceramic tiles (image: Dekiln)
A startup attempting to eliminate one of manufacturing's most energy-intensive steps has secured a commercial partner. Manchester-based Dekiln, run by the biomaterials engineer Aled Roberts, announced in late May 2026 that it will work with Johnson Tiles to scale its BioSintering® technology, a low-carbon manufacturing process that replaces traditional ceramic kilns with low-temperature curing using recycled gypsum waste and plant-based binders.
The value of Dekiln's manufacturing process could well extend beyond the ceramics industry: many other industrial processes consume large amounts of energy and have remained largely unchanged for generations. Rather than focusing solely on cleaner energy sources, some companies are asking whether industrial production itself can be redesigned to require less energy. Dekiln is one of them.
Why Dekiln is questioning the kiln
For centuries, ceramic manufacturing has relied on the same fundamental principle. Raw materials are shaped, dried and fired in kilns operating at temperatures that can exceed 1,000°C.
The process produces durable products used in homes, offices and public buildings around the world. It is also energy intensive.
For most of the industry's history, that was simply accepted as part of the manufacturing process.
Dekiln's founders took a different view.
The company's BioSintering® technology replaces high-temperature firing with a low-temperature curing process. Instead of relying on extreme heat, it combines recycled gypsum waste with plant-derived binders to create products that can be cured at temperatures below 90°C.
According to the company, the process can reduce carbon emissions by up to 94 per cent and energy consumption by up to 90 per cent compared with conventional ceramic production. It also incorporates high levels of recycled content and generates significantly lower particulate emissions.
Again, the significance of the technology lies not only in making sustainable tiles but also in the underlying idea. If selected products can be manufactured without the temperatures traditionally considered essential, the implications extend well beyond ceramics.
Learning from seashells rather than furnaces
One of the most unusual aspects of Dekiln's story is the source of its inspiration.
Founder Dr Aled Roberts began developing the technology during the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing ideas from natural materials such as seashells, pearls, and tooth enamel.
Nature routinely produces strong and durable structures without blast furnaces, kilns, or industrial heat. Seashells form in marine environments at ambient temperatures. Tooth enamel develops through biological processes inside the human body. Despite this, both possess properties that engineers have long sought to replicate.
Researchers around the world have increasingly turned to biomimicry, the practice of drawing inspiration from natural systems to solve engineering challenges. Advances in materials science are making it possible to translate some of those biological principles into commercial products.
Dekiln represents one example of that trend moving from research into manufacturing.
The company has attracted backing from Frontier IP Group and has progressed from laboratory development to pilot-scale production. The Johnson Tiles partnership provides its most significant opportunity so far to demonstrate the technology in a commercial environment.
Why the Johnson Tiles partnership matters
The partnership gives Dekiln access to manufacturing expertise, commercial knowledge and industry relationships that would be difficult for a young company to build independently. For Johnson Tiles, it provides access to a manufacturing process that could reduce energy requirements while increasing the use of recycled materials. Johnson Tiles, with a history dating back back to 1901, stopped manufacturing in 2024. However, if the pilot with Dekiln is successful, it hopes to resume production at its former factory in Stoke.
The agreement is also welcome news for the UK ceramics sector, which has faced significant challenges in recent years. Soaring production costs, heavy international competition, and strict decarbonisation pressures have pushed several iconic British brands including Denby Pottery into administration, or forced substantial job cuts (at Wedgwood, among others).
And it's not just the British ceramics industry that's suffering. Rising energy costs are a worry for manufacturers worldwide, particularly in sectors where industrial competitiveness is closely tied to energy prices. Technologies that lower both energy consumption and environmental impact, such as Dekiln's, are attracting increasing attention as a result.
The overlooked side of industrial decarbonisation
Industrial production accounts for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions. Many manufacturing processes remain difficult to decarbonise because they depend on heat, chemical reactions or production methods that have changed little over time.
As a result, a growing number of startups and researchers are focusing on materials science and process innovation.
Some are developing lower-carbon alternatives to cement. Others are creating construction materials from industrial waste streams. Several are exploring bio-based materials that can replace conventional products or reduce the energy required to manufacture them.
What connects these efforts is a willingness to revisit long-standing assumptions about how industrial products should be made.
Dekiln fits squarely within that category.
Its technology does not rely on a new energy source or a revolutionary piece of machinery. Instead, it challenges one of the most established assumptions in ceramic manufacturing: that high-temperature firing is always necessary.
If the idea is so promising, why has it taken so long?
The obvious question is why alternatives to kiln-fired ceramics have not already become mainstream.
The answer highlights one of the defining challenges of industrial deeptech.
Manufacturing industries are necessarily cautious. Products used in buildings and infrastructure must meet strict standards for durability, safety and performance. New materials require extensive testing, certification and validation before they can achieve widespread adoption.
Success in a laboratory is only the beginning.
Scaling production introduces additional hurdles. Supply chains must be secured, product quality must remain consistent and manufacturing costs must be competitive. Customers must also be confident that new materials will continue to perform over many years.
These realities help explain why industrial innovation often moves more slowly than software innovation.
For Dekiln, the challenge is not simply proving that BioSintering works. It is proving that the process can deliver consistent results at commercial scale while maintaining its environmental and economic advantages. If the company succeeds, it could inspire a rethink of many other physical processes that underpin modern industry.
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