About Us
WHO WE ARE
Carbon8 is a Circular Impact company, converting carbon and industrial residues into sustainable value streams
The hard-to-abate sectors represent over 20% of global emissions according to the International Environment Agency (IEA) and are a significant contributor to industrial residues. In the face of real climate crisis, these industries are under increasing pressure to act now.
At Carbon8, we strive to change the linearity of current value chains and transform the product-waste process into a cycle. The linear model, based on a take-make-use-dispose-system, is leading to emissions, residual waste and associated expenses. This not only represents an environmental but also an economic burden.
OUR TEAM
Meet the leadership team and department heads of Carbon8 driving forward our ambition of Circular Impact.
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Dr Paula Carey
Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer
As founding director of our company and a member of our Board, Paula has been working on the development of Accelerated Carbonation Technology for over 20 years, with over 15 academic papers on the subject. She now leads the research and development of our technology. Paula has an international reputation in the CCU sector, particularly regarding mineralisation and carbonation and is commonly an invited speaker at CCUS conferences.
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Professor Colin Hills
Co-founder
Colin is the inventor of our patented Accelerated Carbonation Technology process and co-founded Carbon8 with Paula in 2006. He is a Professor within the University of Greenwich’s School of Engineering, director of the University’s Centre for Contaminated Land Remediation, and UK Centre for Environment Research and Innovation. Colin is a Chartered Scientist, Member of The IoM3, Board member of ISCOWA and a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and Geological Society of London, as well as a Scientific Advisor to CO₂Value Europe.
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Paul Drennan-Durose
Chief Executive Officer
Paul joined Carbon8 in April 2023. Paul has an extensive international senior executive career which has spanned a substantial spectrum of industries, including clean technology and the energy transition space. He brings with him a wealth of successful board leadership experience of Public and Private enterprises, including Private Equity and Venture Capital. As CEO, he leads Carbon8’s growth ambitions and strategic development.
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John Pilkington
Non-Executive Chair
A civil engineer by profession, John was appointed Non-Executive Chair in 2023, following his 6-year Carbon8 CEO position.
During his career, John has held a number of senior management roles in industry including Head of Strategy and Managing Director of investment at Group level in two major PLCs. In the UK, John has been chair of the CBI working group on Procurement & PFI, and advised HM Treasury’s agency, Partnerships UK, and the Department for Education & Skills’ £45 billion Building Schools for the Future programme. He has been a visiting professor at both the London School of Economics and ESADE business school in Barcelona and is a mentor to members of the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs Society. John is a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of an engineering consultancy and a social housing finance company.
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Paul Collins
Chief Financial Officer
Paul is responsible for the financial management of the company. He joined us in 2020 from a multi-disciplinary engineering and environmental consultancy where he led several M&A transactions and financial improvement projects. Paul remains a non-executive Director of BWB.
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Maarten van Roon
Chief Commercial Officer
Maarten has over 16 years of experience in commercial leadership roles across specialty commodity businesses and, as CCO at Carbon8, is responsible for the growth and expansion of the company. Maarten joined us in 2021 from a career in Oil & Gas and oversees for the delivery of our international growth strategy across our business development, sales and marketing functions.
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Chai Uawithya
Project Programme Director
Chai has worked in manufacturing and engineering for over 30 years, including a series of management positions at Rolls-Royce plc. As Programme Director at Carbon8, Chai leads our work that underpins operations, supply chain management and the deployment of our technology across industry sectors.
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Charles Youell
Head of Engineering
Joining us at the start of 2022, Charles is a senior member of our in-house engineering team. With a masters in Mechanical Engineering from Brunel University, Charles’s career has spanned a range of engineering roles in the energy industry – both onshore and offshore.
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Richard Holland
Technical Manager
Richard is responsible for the laboratory work, based at our Chatham office. For a large part of his career, Richard has worked in the concrete and cement industry in the UK and overseas, including research and development for a formulator making specialist cementitious products, road repair materials and polymer-bound aggregate products. Richard has a PhD in Analytical Biochemistry from Warwick University.
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Rob Nicholson
Head of Commercial - End Products
Rob brings 25+ years of expertise in the Construction and Construction Products Industry. An expert in all construction aggregates, specialising in Lightweight aggregates. Rob has been instrumental in delivering some of the most significant projects across the UK and Europe. His extensive experience spans Ready-Mix Concrete, Precast Concrete and Low Carbon Cement Technologies, reflecting his commitment to driving innovation and sustainable practices in the industry.
Building the circular economy
We are a global leader in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), specialising in carbonation and mineralisation. Through our Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT), we capture CO₂ directly from the source to treat industrial residues, thereby manufacturing products that can be reused.
Our lightweight carbon-negative aggregates have various applications in construction and are a valuable high-performance alternative to natural aggregate, inherently reducing the carbon footprint of any construction project.
The CO₂ntainerᵀᴹ is the realisation of our technology as a compact, mobile CCUS solution. It allows for easy implementation onsite, avoiding disruptions in production.
FOUNDATION STORY
From Lab to Industry
Carbon8 was founded by two world-renowned experts in mineralisation to commercialise a process discovered while studying the solidification of contaminated waste with cement.
Having patented Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT), the scientists Professor Colin Hills and Dr Paula Carey of the University of Greenwich founded Carbon8. The company is an established world leader in Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), using CO₂ and wastes as a resource to make new materials.
Development of the technology
Carbon8 began working on ACT in the 1990s. After inventing and patenting the technology, we first proved the concept in its standalone form, ultimately leading to the realisation of the technology as a containerised solution: The CO₂ntainerᵀᴹ.
To develop and scale the solution, Carbon8 has worked with proud partners and clients over the years.
