Manufacturer and co-developer sought for upscaling of a sustainable water passing tile of dredged sediments

The Dutch start-up has developed the water passing tile which offers a solution for flooding in the cities. The tile can be placed in an open structure for the water to seep into the ground. It is a circular and climate-adaptive product: the tiles are made from river sediment waste stream and can be used instead of concrete. The water passing tile started as a winning design in a competition (from waste stream to a revenue model in six weeks). The tiles were part of an upscalling project with the City of Rotterdam and tested by a Dutch Water Authority. Currently a certification process has started with regional government the Province of South Holland. Water problems in cities As cities are largely concrete paved areas, they are ill-equipped to deal with the increased rainfall caused by climate change. Conventional pavement does not allow rainwater to seep into the ground, so heavy rains cause sewer systems to overflow and cities to flood. The tiles offered by the start-up are a local, sustainable solution for future-proof cities. Sustainability The current pavement production process uses environmentally damaging and increasingly scarce materials. With a tile from the dredge, the use and transport of scarce resources is no longer necessary. The production process requires very little energy, and a waste stream is used that no one wants to have. With futher developement there is the possiibility for the tile to be re-used/repurposed. Scaling up The start-up is now ready, to bring the the development of the tile on a higher level and to start production of the tiles on a large-scale (>200 m2). The company is looking for a long-term collaboration with a manufacturer for the large-scale production of the tile. The manufacturer has expertise, production technology and facilities for manufacturing of concrete products (large scale). The company is ideally producing concrete paving themselves using either a pressing or vibrating technique to co-develop the tile made from dredged sediments. The partner’s role will be the manufacturing of the tiles, and co-developing the tile to make it suitable for large scale production and use. The start-up is offering a manufacturing and/or technical cooperation agreement, but is open to other forms of cooperation. Manufacturing partners preferably are located close to the Netherlands.