Bangladesh based full-service creative agency POP5’s TileChalk entry, created for DBL Ceramics, has won the Grand Prix in the SDGs category at MAD STARS 2026.
The project began with an overlooked consequence of ceramic manufacturing: sludge generated during the tile production process. Instead of treating it solely as waste, POP5 and DBL Ceramics explored how it could be given a second life. The result was TileChalk: a process that transforms ceramic sludge into classroom chalk, turning industrial waste into a useful resource.
At its core, TileChalk is an example of creativity moving beyond communication to create an intervention. The idea connects circularity, waste reduction, education and social impact through a solution rooted in an actual manufacturing challenge.
The three MAD STARS wins add to an already growing international record for the work. TileChalk has previously been recognized at ADFEST, The One Show, AdForum PHNX Awards, Spikes Asia and The ANDYs. At The One Show 2026, it received Merit Awards in both the Green Pencil and Sustainable Development Goals Pencil categories.
The work has also been designed for its impact to extend beyond a single company. By making the TileChalk process open source, the initiative encourages other manufacturers to explore similar approaches to ceramic waste, allowing a solution developed around a local industrial challenge to have wider potential application.
For POP5, the recognition at MAD STARS marks another step in its ambition to bring work originating in Bangladesh to the global creative stage. TileChalk demonstrates how ideas rooted in local realities can address universal challenges, and how creativity can play a role not only in telling stories about sustainability, but in making sustainable change possible.
The Grand Prix at MAD STARS add another chapter to TileChalk’s international journey, while reinforcing a broader belief at POP5: the most meaningful creative work is work that can move from an idea into the real world.
