How DBL Ceramics is rethinking tile waste through TileChalk

As Bangladesh's manufacturing sector expands, questions around industrial waste management is becoming increasingly urgent. Within the ceramic industry, production by-products such as sludge from water recycling systems pose long-term environmental and land-use challenges. To address this issue, DBL introduced TileChalk, an initiative that converts ceramic production sludge into chalk sticks for educational use. The idea is that residual material could be reintegrated into productive use rather than treated as waste.

In this interview with The Business Standard, Mohammad Bayazed Bashar, the Chief Business Officer of DBL Ceramics, discusses the material research behind the initiative, the operational model that enabled scaling, and how industrial by-products can potentially enter new value chains through cross-sector collaboration.

TBS: What was the thought or driving factor behind the TileChalk initiative?

Mohammad Bayazed Bashar: The idea did not begin as an innovation project. It began as a discomfort.
For years, the ceramic industry has known that its waste does not simply disappear. Broken tiles remain for decades. Treatment sludge sits heavily on land, slowly affecting soil structure and adding pressure to already strained waste systems. At DBL Ceramics, we are trained to solve visible problems like strength, finish, and durability. But this was an invisible one, building quietly over time.

Here, we felt sustainability had to move beyond compliance. Managing waste was no longer enough; we had to question why it existed without a second life. TileChalk came from that shift in mindset, from disposal to transformation, from burden to possibility.

What insight truly unlocked the idea?

Interestingly, our rejected tiles were already being recycled back into production. The real challenge was the sludge generated during water recycling. It was safe and controlled but functionally useless, or so we thought.

Months of research followed. We studied its mineral behaviour, binding properties, and particle structure. Then came a simple but powerful realization: its composition closely matched the core material traditionally used in chalk manufacturing. That was the "unlock" moment.
We understood that what we were struggling to manage could actually become the main ingredient of something essential to learning.

What impact has TileChalk achieved so far?

In a relatively short period, TileChalk has moved from concept to measurable change.

• It has converted ceramic sludge from a disposal challenge into a productive raw material, ensuring zero dumping of this residue stream.
• The initiative has helped revive local chalk manufacturing by reducing dependence on imported inputs.
• More than 21.6 million chalk sticks have already been produced, lowering manufacturing costs by nearly 40% for partners.
• Chalk and slate sets have reached more than a thousand underserved schools, giving thousands of students durable, affordable learning tools.

So the impact is environmental, industrial, and social, all at once.

What role did partnerships play in scaling the initiative?

TileChalk succeeded because we chose not to build everything ourselves. Instead of setting up new factories, we collaborated with existing chalk manufacturers. They already had skills, machinery, and market understanding; we simply introduced a new material stream. This allowed rapid scaling without duplicating resources.

NGO partners ensured distribution reached schools that genuinely needed support. Government agencies provided safety validation, strengthening public trust. In essence, TileChalk worked because it strengthened an ecosystem rather than replacing it.

What are the future extension plans for TileChalk?

The next phase is about replication, not reinvention. We aim to bring more manufacturers into the network so that utilizing ceramic sludge becomes standard industry practice rather than a one-company initiative. Expansion into new regions is underway, alongside research into other education-focused applications of recovered ceramic material.

The intention is to keep the model open, simple, and locally adaptable, so it can grow naturally wherever similar waste streams exist.

What does success look like for TileChalk in the long term?

True success will be when this is no longer seen as an "initiative." Our goal is 100% utilization of this material by ensuring no ceramic sludge is dumped but instead continuously reintegrated into productive use. As partnerships grow beyond 35 manufacturing collaborators, we envision a self-sustaining cycle where:

• waste becomes raw material,
• manufacturers reduce costs,
• communities gain access to learning tools, and
• circularity becomes routine.

When industries stop asking, "How do we dispose of this?" and start asking, "What can this become?" That is when TileChalk will have achieved its purpose.