Green award nomination for UEL project

A low-carbon material developed by the University of East London has been longlisted for a prestigious environmental prize, its fourth recent award nomination, with the University itself also receiving high praise for its dedication to sustainability.

Sugarcrete®, an alternative to bricks and concrete that uses sugarcane by-products, was longlisted for the Circular Economy Award by the environmental group, Green Cross UK, as part of the organisation’s Climate Positive Awards, which celebrate sustainable development initiatives that avoid, prepare for, or address climate change. The circular economy category is concerned with efficiency in resource allocation.

Sugarcrete®, developed by UEL’s Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), with the support of Tate & Lyle Sugars, combines sugarcane fibres left over after sugar production with sand-mineral binders to produce bricks that have a carbon footprint five times smaller than traditionally made bricks.

Felicitas Campos-Dugone, Green Cross UK’s coordinator for the awards praised the material and the University’s wider efforts at sustainability,

We are genuinely thrilled to acknowledge the exemplary efforts of institutions like the University of East of London. Their steadfast dedication to fostering sustainability not only within their student community but also in the development of their innovative products is truly commendable.”

Her words were welcomed by Alan Chandler, co-director of the SRI who said, “Green Cross is a significant organisation engaged with a wide range of sustainability initiatives and to be recognised by them is a huge endorsement, not only of Sugarcrete® but also of the way we have structured our thinking on equitable supply chains and localised knowledge exchange.”

Armor Gutierrez, senior lecturer at UEL’s School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering also welcomed the news, saying, “Receiving this nomination highlights the importance of a clear social agenda behind material innovation and sustainable practices in construction.”

This is the fourth nomination for an award that Sugarcrete® has received recently. The others include the prestigious Earthshot and RISE Prizes, while it has also been included in the material innovation category of the Dezeen Sustainability Award.

A brick made from Sugarcrete® is estimated to have eight times less embodied carbon than a normal brick, provided the material is developed locally in sugar cane communities and not transported, while testing conducted at UEL's SRI laboratories showed that Sugarcrete®️ Slab can offer an alternative to concrete slabs with carbon emissions 20 times lower than traditional concrete.

Established in 2001, the SRI was one of the first dedicated sustainability research centres in the UK, with its work one of the priorities of UEL’s Vision 2028 strategy. As part of that strategy, the University aims to become a net zero-carbon campus by 2028.