Our Story

Just as important to our mission of decreasing the world’s waste streams is design: as we develop the next generation of building materials, we refuse to compromise aesthetically.

With our WasteBasedBricks®, we design out waste by transforming the waste materials into high-end brick design. This is our story.

2009-2011 > Design Academy

StoneCycling was conceived at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Then student, Tom van Soest focused on upcycling waste he found in vacant buildings awaiting demolition.

Tom began grinding, crushing, and mixing this waste in his homemade industrial blender and after many, many trials —and even more errors— he found a way to create new materials that were both resilient and appealing.

2011-2013 > Founding of StoneCycling

Tom graduates from the Design Academy and founds his company StoneCycling with long-time friend Ward Massa.

While Tom stays focused on his strengths in product development, Ward takes on the role of business strategist.

Not an easy task when the economic crisis is at its height!

2013-2014 > Aesthetics & Sustainability

Even though there is serious interest in their products by architects and project developers met at various trade shows and events, StoneCycling has yet to sell their first brick or tile.

All that’s needed are the right certificates to prove their bricks fulfill the legal requirements of health, safety and environmental regulations, but the research needed to receive these documents do not come cheap and money is running out.

At the end of 2014, Jasper Brommet joins the StoneCycling team as partner and commercial director. He is responsible for the sales and business development of the company and started talking to architects and real estate developers. They challenged StoneCycling to focus equally on aesthetics and sustainability.

2014-2015 > Launch of the WasteBasedBricks®

After a feature in regional newspaper Limburgs Dagblad, based in Tom’s home province of Limburg in The Netherlands, the phone started ringing.

Various entrepreneurs and private investors loved the concept and soon an investment plan was made. 

With an official CE-certificate in the pocket, the team unveils their first series of WasteBasedBricks® in the second quarter of 2015. 

Their launch results in even more media coverage, ranging from various Dutch national newspapers such as Financieel Dagblad and Vrij Nederland to even more prestigious mentions in British daily newspaper The Guardian and Turkey's leading design and architecture magazine Tasarim.

StoneCycling receives an honourable mention for participating in the Sustainable Innovation Pitch of the Dutch Green Building Council, as well as a nomination for the Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge.

At the end of 2015, StoneCycling travels to Zanzibar together with 5 other young Dutch designers to study glass waste streams on the island and come up with sustainable solutions as part of Dutch Design Week’s Bottle Up project. 

2015-2016 > Dream to Reality

Previous years filled with networking, pitching and developing their product range, finally results in the realization of their first projects. 

Part of the arts program of the Netherlands presidency of the European Union in 2016, a unique pavilion called the TrueTalker is being developed in collaboration with Studioninedots.

A co-working space is realized in Antwerp's famous WATT Tower, together with Belgium based architects Going East. And in the center of Rotterdam, house owners and architects of Architectuur Maken are building their very own house… with WasteBasedBricks® Caramel Raw and Caramel Sliced.

These are exciting times for StoneCycling, as building from waste is now no longer just an idea, a concept or a thought. What started out as a dream is becoming a reality.

StoneCycling gets featured in respected outlets such as Fast Company, Smithsonian and Dezeen. But the year doesn’t end here: with an approach that demonstrated “courage and the passion of a true artisan”, Tom has also been chosen as the winner of this year’s Young Designer Award at the Dutch Design Week!

The international jury found Tom’s work admirable because he presented a usable product that offers true impact. They also praised the fact that he got a grip on frequently time-consuming and complicated legislative processes for (new) construction materials, in a short space of time.

2016-2017 > Scaling Up

2018-2020 > New York. New York!

Esther Kransen is the most recent addition to the StoneCycling team and with over 20 years experience in marketing and communications in business services, she takes on the role of account manager in the company.

Four more projects of different sizes get realized in The Netherlands (among which client WeTransfer), as well as projects in Luxembourg (COS Stores) and Germany (Federal Garden Show at KIT Karlsruhe).

This year also marks another milestone as StoneCycling’s biggest project to date, a residential development with over 260.000 kilograms of upcycled waste, is being constructed on 11th Avenue in New York City.

2020 > The Future of StoneCycling

StoneCyling has come a long way, but our journey to a circular world is only just starting.

From large and small building facades to the interiors of houses, offices, cafes and restaurants, we can't wait to transform even more tons of waste into unique spaces around the world!

Our Mission

‘Moving towards beautiful building materials made from 100% upcycled waste with a positive carbon impact on the planet.’

Our Vision

‘A circular world where waste is synonymous with raw material: cities and its buildings are constructed of building materials that are made from 100% waste, are 100% recyclable at the end of their life cycle and absorb more carbon than it takes to create them.’