“Sugarcrete” A New Innovation made from Sugarcane for a Sustainable Future
Finding effective and valuable solutions for agricultural waste management has been an inspiring challenge for researchers. By-products from monocultures, such as residues from soybean production, corn cobs, straw, sunflower seeds, and cellulose, are often destined for soil composting, used as animal feed, or even converted into energy in order to reduce waste and mitigate the environmental impacts associated with agricultural activities. Sugarcane production, for example, generates a significant amount of by-products, totaling about 600 million tons of bagasse fiber waste from an annual production of two billion tons of sugarcane. This by-product has a promising potential to replace energy-intensive building systems, such as concrete and brick, by providing building materials that combine sustainability and structural efficiency.
With this perspective in mind, the University of East London (UEL), in partnership with Grimshaw Architects and manufacturer Tate & Lyle Sugar, has developed an innovative building material called Sugarcrete™. The aim of the project is to explore sustainable building solutions by recycling biological by-products from sugarcane, which in turn reduces carbon emissions in the construction industry – all while prioritizing social and environmental sustainability during the production and implementation of these building materials.
“The main innovation of Sugarcrete™ is to challenge the established misconception that biomaterials have low structural performance and create a material with enough structural strength to be self-supporting,” says Armor Gutierrez Rivas, Senior Architecture Professor.
Essentially, Sugarcrete™ is created by combining bagasse with mineral binders. The final product is lighter than traditional brick and only has 15-20% of its carbon footprint. Using a fraction of 30% of global bagasse production, Sugarcrete™ would have the potential to completely replace the traditional brick industry, resulting in savings of 1.08 billion tons of CO2 (equivalent to 3% of global carbon dioxide production). Sugarcane has a fast growth rate and is up to 50 times more efficient than forestry when it comes to converting CO2 into biomass, making it a high-priority material for achieving net zero emissions. In addition, the material has good structural characteristics and is insulating, fire resistant, easy to use with unskilled labor, and has a simplified supply chain due to its simple composition.

According to Bamdad Ayati, Research Fellow at the Sustainability Research Institute of UEL, “The Sugarcrete™ production process is quite simple and resembles conventional concrete block manufacturing.
The development team, in collaboration with global architecture firm Grimshaw, incorporated the concept of interlocking geometries to explore new possibilities for the product’s application. Invented and patented in 1699 by the French engineer Joseph Abeille. The concept was applied to Sugarcrete to create demountable, reusable, and fire-resistant composite floor slabs, referred to as ‘Sugarcrete™ Slabs’. These are part of a series of prototypes aimed at developing innovative construction solutions that can be implemented, dismantled, or extended in new and existing structures.
The project uses an interlocking system as a kit of parts that allows large structures to be built using small, discrete components without the need for mortar. Due to its reciprocity and distributed force network, this system outperforms traditional monolithic assemblies. The casting process is employed to minimize material waste and allows for formwork reuse and simplified mass production, as well as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) opportunities.

Moreover, the Sugarcrete™ research was intentionally published without a patent to encourage local producers to adopt the material and reduce cement use. As Alan Chandler, Co-Director Sustainability Research Institute at UEL states, “In partnership with Tate & Lyle Sugars we did undertake patent searches and established where bagasse in construction material development had been patented and what our scope of operation was. We concluded that our work was original, and we could file a patent, but collectively decided not to. This was primarily about wanting to share our insights with, rather than controlling the produce of the producer communities in the Global South. Our decision not to patent was ethical rather than financial.”
Elena Shilova concludes by saying that “Looking across industries, we can find many opportunities for local and sustainable materials and unused agricultural/industrial by-products. These materials, which may not look glamorous and elegant, are the new high-tech in the face of the climate emergency. The climate emergency calls for a new architectural language for materials like Sugarcrete™, to really embrace their potential and celebrate them, without coating and hiding them for a “modern” look. This new architectural language and change in mindset will ultimately make natural materials attractive to customers, increasing demand and lowering price due to economies of scale.”
Recognition of Sugarcrete™’s innovative approach to sustainable construction led to its nomination for this year’s Earthshot award, known as the largest global award for the environment, which celebrates innovative solutions that have a positive impact on the planet.
To follow the progress of the project and for more information, visit the official website at