An industrial adventure
Founded in 2019 by Nicolas Cruaud, Clément Bénassy and William Cruaud, Néolithe currently has 200 employees.
Their common mission is to efficiently treat non-recyclable waste using Accelerated Fossilization.
This innovation, which sequesters more carbon than it emits, revolutionizes waste management by transforming it into stone, enabling all waste to be recycled into useful aggregates for the construction industry.
Our story
The co-founders team
William Cruaud Sr
Co-founder and Strategic & Technical Advisor
William sr. has been a trained stonemason and specialist concrete inventor for 40 years. Winner of the gold medal at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions for an innovative concrete, he managed a company based on his invention for 15 years. He is currently Néolithe’s Strategic & Technical Advisor, responsible for development of the waste Fossilization process.
Clément Bénassy
Co-founder and Director General
Clément is a graduate of the AgroParisTech engineering school where he completed a double degree programme in environmental engineering and business management. He is the CEO at Néolithe, in charge of operational management and environmental impact assessment.
Nicolas Cruaud
Co-founder and Chief Executive
Holder of a double degree from École Polytechnique and Isae-Supaero, Nicolas followed a double programme in mechanical engineering and entrepreneurship. He is currently CEO at Néolithe, in charge of external relations and financing.
Our mission
The goal that these entrepreneurs have set themselves is to industrially and ecologically process mixed non-recyclable waste, such as plaster, plastics, wood and insulation, commonly referred to as “sorting refusal”. Until now, two treatment methods have been used for this waste: landfill and incineration, both intrinsically polluting approaches that generate significant greenhouse gas emissions.
To respond to this challenge in a more environmentally-friendly way, Néolithe has introduced a new waste treatment method : Accelerated Fossilization, which sequesters carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
The idea emerged from the observation of one of the founders, William Cruaud, a stonemason in Anjou, who analyzed the tuffeau stone resulting from the sedimentation of cretaceous waste into limestone.
Inspired by this natural process, the team sought to reproduce this transformation, giving rise to the Accelerated Fossilization process, which revolutionizes waste management by transforming it into stone. With lower greenhouse gas emissions and the ability to recycle 100% of treated waste into aggregates usable in the construction sector, this innovation offers an alternative to landfill and incineration.
To give an idea of the potential impact, if Accelerated Fossilization were used to treat all the waste generated in France every year, it could reduce the country’s carbon footprint by 7%, all industries combined. This process thus offers a significant opportunity to advance decarbonization.