Ceramics are often regarded as a sustainable material choice thanks to their high durability and chemical stability, which enable a long service life.

But ceramics come with environmental baggage in other areas, such as raw material sourcing, processing, and disposal. The specifics of this baggage are unique to each ceramic product, but in general, the ceramic tile industry serves as a prime example of sustainability challenges in ceramics manufacturing. Tiles are the top produced ceramic consumer item globally, amounting to more than 14.95 billion square meters in 2024.¹ (That is enough square meters to wrap around the Earth more than 1,200 times!) Population growth, increasing urbanization, and housing shortages drive increased tile production to meet the demand for new buildings, which amplifies the environmental concerns associated with tile manufacturing (Figure 1).