{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","contentId":"000001a1-7e24-dff1-a9f1-7fe7ac980000","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/sustainability/how-amazon-is-investing-in-innovation-to-decarbonise-construction-in-the-uk","headline":"How Amazon is investing in innovation to decarbonise construction in the UK ","description":"A £40 million delivery station in Stockton-on-Tees is putting Amazon's investment in emerging construction materials to the test, through collaborations with three innovative technology companies.","datePublished":"2026-10-30T13:03:13.487Z","dateModified":"2026-10-30T13:03:13.487Z","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amazon staff"}],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/014beba/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+156+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F22%2F58%2F892abb4c401b9193eb8b5b774599%2F7.png","width":"300","height":"200"},"articleBody":"![Meet the tech ](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/014beba/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+156+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F22%2F58%2F892abb4c401b9193eb8b5b774599%2F7.png)\n\n# How Amazon is investing in innovation to decarbonise construction in the UK \n\n*A £40 million delivery station in Stockton-on-Tees is putting Amazon's investment in emerging construction materials to the test, through collaborations with three innovative technology companies. *\n\n---\n\n## Key takeaways\n\n- Amazon's £40 million delivery station in Stockton-on-Tees is testing three emerging construction technologies by collaborating with CarbiCrete, Paebbl, and Low Carbon Materials.\n- Amazon is taking these technologies out of the lab and putting them to work on a real construction project.\n- Through its Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon is investing in over 15 companies focused on building-related solutions\n\n---\n\nThe built environment accounts for a significant share of global carbon emissions, and the materials used to construct buildings are among the hardest to decarbonise.\n\nOn the construction site of Amazon's newest UK delivery station, in Stockton-on-Tees, the ground itself is doing something peculiar. Paving stones that look ordinary underfoot were made without a single bag of cement. Concrete curing in place is locking away carbon dioxide instead of releasing it. And the carbon-storing aggregate in the asphalt across the site was made 25 miles up the road, created by a company founded from research at Durham University.\n\n![A birds eye view of the station](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/a7f0b1c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1899x1266+176+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fe9%2F5d%2Fe47310ec446da6fb647c4441750d%2Fjess-1.jpg)\n\n- [Amazon begins construction on its first UK building to pursue zero carbon certification ](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/operations/amazon-begins-construction-on-its-first-uk-building-to-pursue-zero-carbon-certification)\n\n## Concrete: one of construction's toughest problems to solve\n\nUnder [The Climate Pledge](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/planet/the-climate-pledge), Amazon has a goal to reach net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040—and concrete is one of the toughest parts of that goal to tackle.\n\nAmazon's approach to building decarbonisation spans carbon-free energy, energy efficiency, lower-carbon refrigerants, sustainable construction materials, and reducing water use and waste. On the materials front, the company is harnessing three emerging solutions:\n\n1. Alternative materials that reduce how much cement goes into concrete\n2. Lower-carbon ways of manufacturing cement\n3. Materials that actively store carbon inside the finished product\n\nThe Stockton-on-Tees delivery station brings all three together on one site. Through collaborating with CarbiCrete, Paebbl and Low Carbon Materials, Amazon is taking these technologies out of the lab and putting them to work on a real construction project.\n\n## CarbiCrete: proving cement-free paving works at scale\n\n[CarbiCrete](https://carbicrete.com/) is a Montreal-based carbon removal technology company developing low-cost building solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its process replaces cement entirely with steel slag—a by-product from the steelmaking industry—and cures it using a patented method that locks captured CO₂ inside the finished paving. At the Stockton-on-Tees site, three different CarbiCrete products now cover around 6,400m² of paving across parking spaces and footpaths. CarbiCrete describes this as the first wide-scale deployment of its technology anywhere in the world.\n\n![CarbiCrete at Stockton-on-Tees](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/926a40d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x1080+0+0/resize/767x518!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fd9%2F29%2Fc352863c41b5a5d648df5b108e18%2Fcarbicrete-20260120-105-1-1600x1080.jpg)\n\nThe result is already measurable. According to CarbiCrete, the production of these units has removed 33 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. \"Amazon's confidence in deploying CarbiCrete products at this scale brings us credibility,\" Gary Belisle, CEO at CarbiCrete says, describing early adopters as essential to establishing the use of the technology as a drop-in replacement for cement-based concrete, and as a means to lower the embodied carbon of a construction project.\n\nThe relationship hasn’t stopped at one site. Amazon’s design team is building a growing collaboration with CarbiCrete, and both organisations are exploring further opportunities to deploy the technology at additional locations as CarbiCrete’s manufacturing footprint expands from Canada and Europe into the U.S. and Australia.\n\n## Paebbl: concrete that's being monitored from the inside out\n\nSwedish industrial resilience startup [Paebbl](https://paebbl.com/) makes a building material called Paebbl Rebond. At the Stockton-on-Tees site, the material is used in the concrete floor of the service yard, replacing part of the conventional cement binder with a mineral material. According to Paebbl, the material is designed to store more carbon than is emitted in its production.\n\nThe installed sections carry embedded fibre-optic sensors tracking performance over time, alongside other concrete solutions installed for direct comparison—all under the genuine day-to-day loads of a working delivery station.\n\n[Amazon backed Paebbl through its Climate Pledge Fund in 2024](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/sustainability/amazon-climate-pledge-fund-investments-molg-paebble-14trees). For Paebbl, this pilot matters because of where the company sits in its own development: moving from proving its chemistry in a lab to proving a complete commercial application.\n\n![Paebbl at Stockton-upon-Tee](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/85a8c5c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x1080+0+0/resize/767x518!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fd1%2Fa3%2F51ace35d40b7870be31cd547bdf9%2Fpaebbl-1-1600x1080.jpg)\n\n\"Customer projects such as this one provide the practical evidence and confidence needed to design our first commercial plant around real applications rather than theoretical demand,\" Ana Luisa Vaz, VP Products at Paebbl explains. \"They help turn carbon-storing construction from a distant possibility into something that can be deployed in buildings today.\"\n\nCommenting on what the project signals for the wider industry: \"By working with Amazon on a live delivery station project, the company is helping demonstrate an emerging material in real-world conditions,\" Marta Sjögren, Co-CEO and Co-founder at Paebbl says, describing the pilot as a reference point that will help accelerate qualification of its material for larger, more demanding applications across the construction value chain.\n\n## Low Carbon Materials: an Earthshot Prize finalist, made 25 miles from the site\n\nThe asphalt at the site tells a story closer to home. It includes ACLA®, an additive developed by Low Carbon Materials and supplied as part of Holcim UK's [Foamix Eco asphalt](https://circularecology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Foamix-Eco-Mobile-EPD.pdf) used on site. According to Low Carbon Materials, ACLA® is designed to store more carbon than is emitted in its production.\n\n[Low Carbon Materials](https://www.lowcarbonmaterials.com/), which was named a finalist for the [Earthshot Prize](https://earthshotprize.org/), is a company founded from research at Durham University, now manufacturing in Seaham, roughly 25 miles from the delivery station. According to Low Carbon Materials, every tonne of ACLA stores 798kg of CO₂e—a figure verified through a third-party [Environmental Product Declaration](https://www.environdec.com/library/epd16646).\n\n![Lower Carbon Material team](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/5d3c705/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x1080+0+0/resize/767x518!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Ff1%2Fbd%2Fa7ffb4b64e59ad0cf8d903a0ffcd%2Fproject-pictures-1-1-1600x1080.png)\n\nACLA is also lighter than conventional aggregate, cutting transport emissions and if used in concrete, it has the potential to reduce the weight a building's structure has to support. The company says it's proof that lower-carbon options don't have to come at the cost of performance.\n\n\"The asphalt at Stockton isn't just lower carbon. It's storing carbon, in the fabric of the build,\" says Dr Natasha Boulding, CEO and co-founder of LCM.\n\nDr Boulding is candid about what's historically held back wider adoption of materials like theirs: \"The barrier has never been the science. It's whether someone will put it in a real building. This is a real building.\"\n\nLCM is currently targeting manufacturing to an industrial scale. The company says projects like Stockton-on-Tees provide the kind of real-world evidence needed to turn a new material from an alternative option into an industry standard—opening the door to wider use across the UK, North America, and Europe.\n\n\"A first-of-a-kind project is only first once. After that it's a precedent, and this industry runs on precedent.\"\n\n## Investing in solutions for the future\n\nThe delivery station alone represents a £40 million investment and is expected to create around 100 jobs. But it's also an example of a far bigger commitment: Amazon has invested more than £80 billion directly into UK operations since 2010 and has pledged a further £40 billion between 2025 and 2027, supporting job creation, infrastructure, and emerging technologies including logistics and AI.\n\n[Independent analysis by Frontier Economics](https://www.frontier-economics.com/uk/en/news-and-insights/news/news-article-i22369-amazon-investments-supporting-europes-low-carbon-economy/), estimates that more than £3 billion of that spending — directed at carbon-free energy, transport electrification, and sustainable packaging between 2021 and 2025 — supported up to 34,000 jobs and generated up to £2 billion for the wider economy.\n\n![Areas where Amazon is investing](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/2b31071/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1688x1125+0+0/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fb4%2F47%2F89c1877e46dcb160b7bfd390219c%2Faboutamazon-investment-hero-1-1.jpg)\n\n- [Amazon announces plans to invest £40 billion in the UK](https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/job-creation-and-investment/amazon-40-billion-uk-investment)\n\nSome of that investment goes directly into the materials science needed to decarbonise construction. Through its Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon is investing in over 15 companies focused on building-related solutions, including startups like Brimstone and CarbonCure to further decarbonise concrete, and Electra to decarbonise steel. Today, CarbonCure technology is being used at over 80 Amazon sites globally.\n\nThe companies working on the Stockton-on-Tees delivery station are part of that wider pipeline. For example, Low Carbon Materials is part of Greentown Go Build, an open-innovation programme Amazon backs alongside the Global CO2 Initiative to bring emerging CO2-mineralisation technologies from lab to construction site. It’s one of several routes Amazon uses to find and support the next generation of building-materials beyond the three profiled here.\n\nFor more on Amazon's work testing next-generation concrete technologies, see the green concrete testing programme on the [Amazon Sustainability Exchange](https://sustainabilityexchange.amazon.com/).\n\n## Collaborating across the industry\n\nAmazon doesn't do this alone. The company works closely with UK suppliers, industry bodies, and the government to help shape how the wider construction industry decarbonises, including Amazon’s role in helping to define the UK's Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.\n\n> Decarbonising our buildings is a significant part of reaching our Climate Pledge. We know Amazon's scale gives us the opportunity and responsibility to help drive important industry shifts, and working with promising startups on lower-carbon construction materials is one of the ways we can accelerate progress across the entire built environment sector.\n> — Chris Roe, Director, Worldwide Sustainability, Carbon and Energy at Amazon\n\nEvery company Amazon has worked with at Stockton-on-Tees describes the same challenge: promising materials science routinely stalls when no one is willing to put it into a real, operational building. Amazon believes that operating at scale brings a responsibility to be thoughtful about how that scale is used. In construction, that means helping to test and prove emerging materials that the wider industry can then build with too. It's not about having all the answers—it's about being willing to go first, learn from what works, and share the findings.\n\n## What happens next\n\nFormal Zero Carbon Certification assessment by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) will occur following a full year of operational data. For CarbiCrete, Paebbl, and Low Carbon Materials, the evidence gathered here will be critical to give the wider construction industry the confidence to build with their technology again\n\nAmazon is making progress across its UK real estate portfolio, and it's just getting started. To learn more about Amazon's commitment to The Climate Pledge, see its latest [Sustainability report](https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/2025-report).\n\nCompanies interested in sustainability resources can explore the [Amazon Sustainability Exchange](https://sustainabilityexchange.amazon.com/), which includes Amazon's [building decarbonisation guide](https://sustainabilityexchange.amazon.com/focus-areas/buildings#playbook).","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"About Amazon","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.com","sameAs":["https://x.com/amazonnews","https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon","https://www.instagram.com/amazonnews"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/bd/8f/88e7b0314cc2bd05b9de3155a0fe/amazon-news.svg"},"parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon","url":"https://www.amazon.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3884","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)","https://x.com/Amazon"]}}}