Japan turns Mino ware and tile waste into paving that stays 20°C cooler than asphalt
Tile Wars · technology · · Tile Insights Hub
Two companies in Gifu Prefecture have developed Mino-yaki eco soil, a paving material made with 30-50% tile waste and discarded Mino ware. In direct-sunlight tests its surface stayed more than 20°C below asphalt, opening a new route for ceramic waste and for cooler, safer public spaces.
Roads in Japan can turn dangerous under the summer sun, with asphalt surfaces climbing above 60°C. Children can burn their hands on the pavement, and infants in strollers sit closer to the ground, absorbing more radiant heat and facing a higher risk of heatstroke.
A new paving material developed in Gifu Prefecture offers a ceramic answer to that problem. Called Mino-yaki eco soil, it was created jointly by Kowa, a building materials manufacturer, and Kurihara Kenzai, a civil engineering company, both based in Gifu. It incorporates waste from Mino ware, one of Japan's traditional ceramic crafts, together with discarded tiles.
Turning waste into paving
Mino ware pieces that are damaged or broken during production can no longer be sold and are normally treated as industrial waste. Because ceramics cannot be incinerated, the standard route has been crushing and burying them, a longstanding disposal problem for the region.
"With the cost of asphalt materials also rising, I thought making effective use of waste materials could contribute to the local community," said Kowa President Shunsuke Niwa. Working with Kurihara Kenzai President Hiroaki Kurihara and his team, the companies tested prototypes and ran trial installations, bringing the product to market after four years of development.
Keeping surfaces cooler
Mino-yaki eco soil contains 30% to 50% tile waste - Gifu is Japan's largest tile producing region - plus a small share of Mino ware waste. Its defining feature is thermal: thanks to the water-absorbing properties of the ceramic, surface temperatures stay far lower under direct sun. In extended exposure tests, the material measured more than 20°C cooler than asphalt.
Mino ware is fired above 1,200°C, which makes it highly durable, and the resulting pavement is said to be strong enough to carry vehicle loads.
A growing market
Kurihara Kenzai is now marketing the material and pushing to widen its use. The company reports rising interest from local governments and public facilities looking for safer paving. "We want to actively promote its use around public facilities that serve as evacuation shelters during disasters, as well as in places where children gather," Niwa said.
Why it matters for the ceramic industry
The project points to a second life for a waste stream that every tile cluster in the world produces. Combining urban heat mitigation with circular use of fired ceramic scrap turns a disposal cost into a product, and it positions ceramics in an infrastructure market that has so far belonged almost entirely to asphalt and concrete.
Source: Japan Forward / The Sankei Shimbun.