SMaRT Green Ceramics — Engineered Surfaces

Green Ceramics challenges a foundational assumption that waste is not a renewable resource. It also challenges the building products industry: that surface performance requires energy-intensive manufacturing. The Australian and International standard-compliant test results for Green Ceramics — particularly the 26.2 MPa wet flexural strength, perfect stain resistance, and P3 slip rating — demonstrate that this assumption is incorrect.The product has the potential to redefine what specifiers expect from sustainable building materials — shifting the benchmark from 'less bad' (reduced virgin content, recyclable packaging) to 'genuinely circular' (majority recycled content, waste-feedstock-driven, low-energy production, traceable supply chain).

Green Ceramics is an engineered surface tile and an entirely new category of building material. Each tile is composed of at least 80% recycled glass aggregate and waste textiles, pressed and cured at 130°C for less than six minutes without kiln firing and without melting. The result is a high-performance architectural surface that meets or exceeds the physical benchmarks of conventional ceramic and engineered stone. The product is also silicosis free and safe unlike other stone and engineered stone products. The product is commercially available and has been installed in real projects across residential, corporate, retail, government, and community sectors.

The product's cost model and manufacturing flexibility allow it to serve community settings where design quality and material integrity matter, but conventional premium finishes are unaffordable. Green Ceramics have been installed in various locations and settings around Australia. The product has the potential to redefine what specifiers expect from sustainable building materials — shifting the benchmark from 'less bad' (reduced virgin content, recyclable packaging) to 'genuinely circular' (waste-feedstock-driven, low-energy production, traceable supply chain). Green Ceramics is developed by the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre with manufacturing partner Liverpool City Council — an Australian innovation from science to finished product.