The Materials Design Map: a global database for sustainable materials and circular design

The Materials Design Map is a free online database connecting designers, material researchers, companies and organisations worldwide working with sustainable materials and circular design. The platform helps users discover innovative material solutions, products and research from different countries and regions, while supporting the development of local circular economies.

More than a showcase, the Materials Design Map is a curated and continuously growing database of material innovation. It brings together projects that explore how waste, renewable resources and alternative raw materials can become new materials and products, making them easier to discover for professionals working across design, architecture, manufacturing and research.

What can you find on the Materials Design Map?

The heart of the platform is its searchable database of sustainable material projects, which can be explored by designer, country, resource type and business type. The Map covers a wide range of material resources, from agricultural and food waste to textile and industrial waste, as well as bio-based resources such as mycelium, algae, natural fibres and other renewable materials. The database includes material experiments, commercially available sustainable materials and products, startups, companies and research projects. Together, they offer an overview of how material innovation is contributing to the transition towards more circular models of production.

Projects featured on the Materials Design Map share an interest in circular material flows: they transform waste, by-products or renewable resources into something new - from furniture and tiles to textiles, packaging and other applications - with the aim of keeping materials in use for longer or returning them safely to biological or technical cycles. Beyond the database, the platform includes three additional sections dedicated to exploring sustainable materials and circular design:

• Design Stories features interviews and articles about designers, studios and organisations pushing the boundaries of design culture, material research and circular design.

• Open Resources is a free collection of projects, platforms, tools and research that can help designers and researchers navigate the increasingly complex field of sustainable materials and material innovation.

• Books is a curated library of publications exploring ecology, new materials and design culture, from Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart to Cambio by Formafantasma.

  
  

Why submit a project to the Materials Design Map?

Submitting a project to the Materials Design Map is completely free and takes just a few minutes through the submission form available on the website. Every submission is reviewed by the Materials Design Map Scientific Committee. Selected projects become part of a curated international database consulted by designers, companies, researchers, curators and other professionals looking for innovative sustainable materials and circular solutions.

Being featured on the Map means more than simply having a project listed online. The platform can create opportunities for collaborations with brands, editorial coverage, exhibitions and design events. Several projects featured on the Materials Design Map have already been selected for editorial projects and exhibitions during Milan Design Week, including Peripheral Design at Fuorisalone 2024, and The Collector’s Room in Isola Design District in 2026.

A resource for discovering sustainable materials

As the number of new bio-based, recycled, waste-derived and circular materials continues to grow, finding reliable information about material innovation can be challenging.

The Materials Design Map aims to make this landscape easier to navigate by bringing together sustainable materials, circular design projects and material research from around the world in one curated, free-access platform.

Whether you are a designer looking for a new material, a company developing a sustainable product, a researcher exploring material innovation or a curator searching for emerging projects, the Materials Design Map offers a starting point for discovering what is happening in the field of sustainable and circular materials.