No cement, 450 homes, Rs 7 lakh each: How Gujarat couple turned factory waste into bricks, cutting construction time to just 30 days

Industrial waste can pose serious environmental risks when discarded improperly, contaminating land and water while placing long-term pressure on surrounding ecosystems. Vedant and Aditi Gandi from Ankleshwar, Gujarat decided to do something about it. Watching factory waste pile up around their town every day, the couple decided to utilise it and create bricks. All they needed was to ask themselves a simple question: what if the industrial waste could create cooler and affordable homes? That’s how their cement-free company Co2ncrete was born.

Gujarat couple makes cement-free homes

Vedant and Aditi’s company turned byproducts produced by industries like fly ash, silica sludge, and construction waste into bricks and building materials, including blocks and prefabricated housing components, as per a report by The Better India.

One of the most distinctive features of the company is its cement-free manufacturing process. Co2ncrete, as the name suggests, aims to reduce global carbon emissions by replacing cement with recycled industrial materials.

How Gujarat couple makes bricks from factory waste

These materials, combined with prefabricated construction technology, create building components which are then manufactured beforehand and assembled on-site. This, in turn, significantly reduces construction time, building a system that is faster, cleaner, and more sustainable.

Vedant and Aditi noticed how several families in Gujarat struggled to stay cool in simple brick houses. So, they started experimenting with bricks from industrial waste, which eventually led to cooler walls even under scorching temperatures

All about the construction and the Gujarat couple

Through prefabricated construction, the couple claims that the homes can be completed in as little as 30 days. Meanwhile, the components are lightweight, which makes them easier to transport and assemble, reducing labour requirements and overall construction costs. As per the company, its technology has already constructed over 450 homes across Gujarat.

According to Co2ncrete’s official website, Aditi has 10 years of experience in consulting for municipal, mega infrastructure, and heavy industry. She is an alumna of CEPT University with a Master's in Urban Infrastructure Planning. Vedant, on the other hand, is an NMIMS Mumbai and University of Stuttgart, Germany, graduate with experience in policymaking, government-led research, and consulting with the Government of India and the United Nations.