New Delhi [India], March 18: On the occasion of Global Recycling Day, SOMANY Ceramics is looking back on a sustainability-led initiative that brought together manufacturing realities and design thinking in a meaningful way. The company’s waste tile campaign, undertaken over the last year, has grown into a thoughtful collaboration with academic institutions, demonstrating how tile waste can be reimagined through creative intervention.
The initiative began with a practical challenge. Broken and unused tiles generated across manufacturing units and retail touchpoints were accumulating over time. Instead of treating this as residual waste, SOMANY chose to redirect the material into an experimental design exercise by partnering with nearby architecture and design institutes, enabling the utilisation and recycling of tile waste available at local dealer and stock points.
Across campuses, the outcomes manifested in diverse forms. Over 3,000+ students across 40 institutes—such as Manipal University (Rajasthan), Amity University (Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh), KIIT School of Architecture and Planning (Odisha), Sushant University (Haryana), Indian Institute of Art and Design (Delhi), and the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (Hyderabad)—participated in the campaign, spanning North, South, East, and West India. The engagement was intentionally structured as a hands-on experience, enabling students to interact directly with discarded material and reimagine its potential beyond conventional applications. Students created murals, installations, and functional design interventions that became integral to their immediate environments. Many of these works continue to reside within campus spaces, subtly reinforcing a culture of reuse and embedding sustainability into everyday interactions.
In total, more than 8,100 sq. ft. of waste tile was repurposed through the initiative, resulting in 12 tons of tiles being diverted from landfills and an estimated reduction of 4.8 tons of CO₂ emissions—significantly lowering the overall carbon footprint. What distinguishes this achievement is not merely the scale of material recovery, but the underlying philosophy. The tiles were not industrially reprocessed or downcycled; instead, they were used in their unaltered state. This approach underscores principles of resource circularity, low embodied carbon design, and material-led innovation—encouraging students to design with imperfections, irregularities, and constraints, and to transform these limitations into drivers of creativity and environmental impact reduction.
The process itself served as a critical learning catalyst. Workshops at each institution brought together faculty and the SOMANY team, blending technical expertise with creative exploration. This provided students with a rare opportunity to engage with materials in a tactile, real-world context, bridging academic learning with practical execution.
The initiative effectively translated sustainability from an abstract concept into a lived experience—tangible, immediate, and transformative.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Anshuman Chakravarty, Vice President & Head – Marketing & Communication, Somany Ceramics Ltd., said, “Waste in our industry has traditionally been seen as an operational byproduct. We see it differently—as an untapped resource. Our waste tile initiative reflects a conscious shift from linear consumption to circular thinking, where what we discard today can become the resource of tomorrow. By reimagining how materials are valued, reused, and reintegrated, we are not only reducing environmental impact but also setting a new benchmark for responsible manufacturing. Our effort is also to sensitise the next generation, encouraging them to engage with sustainability not as an abstract idea, but as a lived practice and to empower them to become ambassadors of a more responsible, circular future.”
As Global Recycling Day brings focus to sustainable practices across industries, this effort serves as a reminder that meaningful change often begins with small, deliberate steps. In this case, it was about recognising the value in what already exists and finding ways to extend its life through design, collaboration, and intent.
About Somany Ceramics Limited
SOMANY Ceramics Limited (SCL) is one of the leading players in the ceramic industry in India and amongst the top 15 manufacturers in the world. The company is a complete solution provider in terms of décor solutions with widest product selection of Ceramic Wall and Floor tiles, Polished Vitrified Tiles, Glazed Vitrified Tiles and Slabs, Sanitaryware, Bath Fittings, Adhesives, Grouts and Home & Building solutions. SOMANY has pan India distribution across 12000+ retail points and having over 500 exclusive showrooms, it also exports to more than 80 countries across 6 continents. The company has a capacity to produce ~80 million square meters per annum of tiles through 2 company owned plants, 5 strategic alliances, and tie ups with outsourced partners spread across India. It also has manufacturing units for Sanitaryware, Bath fittings and Adhesives.
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