North Lanarkshire Council, Safetytech Accelerator and Amey launch the next phase of Roads Decarbonisation Sandbox

Eight global companies selected to help identify and overcome challenges to adopting low-carbon road materials 

London, UK – 09/07/25 – Safetytech Accelerator (STA), in collaboration with North Lanarkshire Council and Amey, is pleased to announce the next phase of the Barriers to Decarbonising Roads Sandbox (BDRS). Part of the Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads, the programme is funded by the Department for Transport through the ADEPT Live Labs 2 initiative and supports the UK’s wider decarbonisation goals in road infrastructure.

Following a global search and evaluation process, led by us in collaboration with the programme partners, eight innovative companies have been selected from over 300 candidates developing advanced systems and materials to help decarbonise roads. These companies – PRG Scotland, C-Twelve, Ecopals, Uberbinder, Biozeroc, DMAT, Sima Asphalt, and Carbon Pave – bring forward promising technologies such as tyre-derived bitumen, sulphur-based binders, biochar cold mixes, recycled plastic additives, and cement-free alternatives. Collectively, these innovations could dramatically cut the carbon emissions associated with road construction and maintenance.

Next Steps: Identifying and Addressing Barriers 

The Sandbox aims to identify the barriers that companies face in developing low-carbon systems and materials face, and to develop practical mitigation strategies in collaboration with industry. In this next phase, STA will work closely with the selected companies to explore the regulatory, commercial, and technical barriers that currently prevent wider adoption of their materials in road construction. The Sandbox will enable structured collaboration – based on Safetytech Accelerator’s established Sandbox methodology – to develop and test mitigation strategies that could enable long-term uptake.

Participants will also be supported by a network of industry mentors, infrastructure experts and public sector partners, helping to bring real-world insight and cross-sector collaboration to the programme.

“There’s a lot of groundbreaking new innovation in the pipeline, but adoption lags behind and new players are struggling to get traction,” said Seb Corby, Principal Consultant at Safetytech Accelerator. “This programme is about breaking through the barriers that keep promising materials from reaching the roads. By bringing together top innovators from around the world, industry mentors and public sector leaders, we’re exploring the practicalities of what it takes to introduce a high performance, low carbon material innovations into the UK’s local roads.”

Scott Walker, Asset Services Manager at North Lanarkshire Council, said: “Through the Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads, we have trialled innovative products that will help reduce the high levels of carbon emissions created by local road maintenance activities. Through a private and public sector partnership, the Innovation Sandbox will identify and seek to remove the barriers currently preventing the scaling of innovative materials for road maintenance activities and offer the UK roads industry certainty of their quality and effectiveness for use on the network.”

Highways Sector Director at Amey, Kyle Clough, comments: “Our latest collaboration with North Lanarkshire Council is a pioneering initiative to create a safe environment for SMEs to trial low-carbon materials and develop new solutions to benefit the highways sector. I’m delighted by the support we have from a wide variety of industry mentors from Transport Scotland, National Highways and Safetytech Accelerator, and other leading minds from the sector. We are dedicated to helping uncover and overcome the barriers to mainstream adoption, supporting SMEs with their revolutionary low-carbon innovations. Together, we aim to accelerate the transition towards a resilient and low-carbon future for road infrastructure.”

Jason Lee, CEO at C-Twelve, one of the selected companies commented:
“Being part of the Sandbox gives us an opportunity to collaborate with decision-makers and gain clarity on the steps needed to bring our material to real-world projects. It’s a vital bridge between development and deployment.”

Notes to Editors:   

About Safetytech Accelerator  
Safetytech Accelerator, established by Lloyd’s Register, is the first fully dedicated technology accelerator focused on advancing innovation in safety-critical industries. We are focused on making the world safer, more resilient, and more sustainable by helping organisations operating in safety critical industries to innovate and successfully adopt new technologies.

For more information on this project or to learn more about Safetytech Accelerator, please visit safetytechaccelerator.org. 

For more information about Barriers to Decarbonising Roads Sandbox please contact Charlotte.Hutton@lr.org

For more information about the ADEPT Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads in the UK programme, please contact: Emma Parker Reynolds at Coast Communications on 01579 352600 / 07944 360631 or email: emma@coastmarcoms.co.uk
The latest information on Live Labs 2 can be found here: www.adeptnet.org.uk/livelabs2
 

ADEPT Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads in the UK    
ADEPT Live Labs 2 is a three-year, UK-wide £30 million programme funded by the Department for Transport, that aims to decarbonise the local highway network. Following the success of the ADEPT SMART Places Live Labs programme (Live Labs 1), the programme will run until March 2026, with a with a five-year subsequent, extended monitoring and evaluation period. The development of new approaches by local authorities to achieve a net zero local highway network will help tackle immediate and emerging problems and prepare us for our uncertain future. Live Labs 2 is is overseen by a commissioning board including: ADEPT (chair), AtkinsRealis, Colas, Construction LCA, Core Highways, County Surveyors’ Society (CSS) Wales, Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland, DfT Roads, DfT SciTech, EY, Innovate UK, Kent County Council, Kier Highways, Durham County Council, National Highways, Open Data Institute, Ringway, , Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS), Transport for London and WSP. www.adeptnet.org.uk/livelabs2  
 

About ADEPT   
The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) represents ‘Directors of Place’ from county, unitary, metropolitan and combined authorities along with directors of local enterprise partnerships, sub-national transport bodies and corporate partners. ADEPT members deliver the projects that are fundamental to creating more resilient communities, economies and infrastructure and provide vital services include housing, environmental and regulatory services, planning, economic development, culture and highways and transport. The Association represents members’ interests by proactively engaging central government on emerging policy & issues, responding to consultations and enquiries, and promoting initiatives and research aimed at influencing policy. For more information on ADEPT please visit the website: www.adeptnet.org.uk