Cement is one of the most widely used materials in construction, but its production comes with a high environmental cost. Circular Design Cement, a 2026 James Dyson Award project, is exploring a new approach to construction materials. The project uses everyday waste and industrial byproducts as recycled aggregates in cement-based materials designed for architectural applications. The work replaces some conventional aggregates with materials such as eggshells, glass, ceramics and oyster shells while using blast furnace slag cement as a lower-carbon binder. These recycled materials can be turned into thin boards, tiles and small architectural products that retain strength, function and visual appeal while using fewer natural resources.
How Circular Design Cement turns waste into building material
Circular Design Cement starts with the idea that construction materials do not always need to rely on newly extracted resources. The project uses recycled waste as aggregates and combines them with blast furnace slag cement. Materials are crushed, cut, or separated before being mixed with the binder.The mixture is poured into moulds and shaped through press dewatering, which compacts the material while removing excess water. It is cured naturally or with steam rather than being fired at high temperatures. The approach can produce cement boards, tiles, and architectural products. Testing examined bending strength, impact resistance, and dimensional stability across formulations.
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How recycled materials are changing the design of cement boards
The project addresses two major challenges in construction that are the environmental impact of cement production and pressure on resources such as sand and gravel. Circular Design Cement explores thinner cement boards that can reduce material use while providing useful performance. Its inspiration partly came from thick, heavily coated cement boards seen in Japan. The designers explored fibre reinforcement and lower-carbon binders to develop a different approach to these products. The project also draws inspiration from early reinforced cement innovations associated with Joseph Monier. By combining a thinner form with recycled inputs, it aims to make construction materials more efficient without losing practical qualities.
17 waste materials tested for stronger building tiles
The design process tested 17 waste materials in 7.5-centimetre tiles. The materials included glass, ceramics, wood chips, denim fibres, hair, eggshells, oyster shells, ocean plastics, fishing nets, receipts and iron oxide from disposable hand warmers. Different mixture ratios revealed possibilities and limitations. Wood-chip mixtures retained too much water, while eggshell-based mixtures presented other challenges. Hair was found to be incompatible with the alkaline cement environment. After this testing, eggshells, ceramics, glass, oyster shells, and iron oxide were selected for validation. The team then refined the mixing, pressing, and curing process before comparing materials with conventional cement boards through mechanical tests.
How recycled materials can strengthen cement products
The selected materials were tested after the manufacturing process. Some formulations recorded bending strengths of up to 16.1 N/mm², exceeding those of conventional cement boards. The material also uses Type B blast furnace slag cement, which has a lower reported carbon emission factor than ordinary Portland cement. The binder can reduce the need for conventional sand after combining with recycled aggregates. The designers also explored the visual possibilities of waste materials, including the textures and colours they could create. A denim-reinforced flowerpot prototype further showed how the approach could be used beyond flat cement boards.
Further tests will focus on durability and recycling
The project is being developed, with next steps focused on making the material more reliable and practical. The team plans to carry out further testing, including assessments of fire and water resistance. It also aims to scale the work from small prototypes to full-size boards while refining the life cycle assessment. As production grows, securing a consistent supply of suitable waste materials will become important. The team also plans to explore whether the products can be recycled after use. The project ultimately brings waste recovery and lower-impact construction together through a single material approach.