After nine years of development a new ‘green’ engineered stone for surfaces and wall and floor tiles has started coming off a trial production line in Holland.

Developed by Shell Research and venture capitalists Kenda Capital, the product, called Echotect, combines marble and quartz with recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) from recycled plastic bottles. It is being brought to market by Stephen Eastwood, formerly MD of Rugby Cement and Adsteam Europe.

He says: “The demand for engineered stone in the surface, tile and flooring market is predicted to increase at 5-10% per annum globally. I believe the Echotect technology has the capacity to take a large portion of that market.”