A BUSINESS based at Bradford University is developing a product that will use plastic bottles destined for the scrap heap to make offices around the world more pleasant places to work.

Co2nscience is a small environmentally friendly company that creates artwork out of recycled bottles. In the new year, the company hopes to patent a product it feels could revolutionise the workplace, and will become commonplace in modern offices.

The company's latest wall hangings are designed to absorb sound and prevent it from bouncing off walls, and could help improve acoustics in noisy office spaces and work environments.

Stuart Jones, the man behind the company, said 2015 would be a game changing year for the company. "There has been a really good response to the ideas so far.

"As well as a wall hanging, the artwork can be taken off the wall and used as a desk partition. In normal offices you get a lot of sound bouncing off the walls. This is created in a way that reduces that. It is a combination of artwork and a product that helps acoustics."

Based in the University's re:centre, which has won awards for its green credentials, the company was created in 2013 as a spin off from Wewow Ltd, a company that produced environmentally friendly DVD and CD packaging. Its original product line included different shaped wall hangings that could be customised to feature different artwork.

But the potential of the wall hangings to improve acoustics soon led to the company focusing in their new products. Art prints are hung over a super absorbent material and the art can be changed over time.

The work has led to Mr Jones being named Pioneer of the Week by Virgin Media earlier this month.

Mr Jones added: "Once we have it patented it is going to be huge. It is a world first product, there is nothing like it on the market at the moment.

"We're hoping it is going to be a huge success in 2015. It will really be able to help with acoustics in offices. We are just a small business at the moment, but we think this will go quite big quite quick."

Although the company has set images it produces, companies can also have their logos made up into the sound absorbing artwork.

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