Winner: Sustainable project of the year and material innovation of the year 2025. Hydro has designed Hydro CIRCAL 100R, the world's first industrial aluminium made with 100 per cent post-consumer aluminium.

Hydro CIRCAL 100R is a revolutionary aluminium product made entirely from post-consumer scrap, such as dismantled windows, facades and automotive parts.

The material was first launched at Milan Design Week 2024 through Hydro's 100R exhibition and later exhibited at Milan Design Week 2025 through its R100 exhibition.

Developed by Hydro, it is the world's first commercially available aluminium with a carbon footprint below 0.5 kg CO2e per kg of aluminium.

The scrap is collected and sorted using Hydro's state-of-the-art scrap sorting technology, capable of sorting thousands of small pieces of scrap every minute at millimetre precision.

The scrap is further treated through a de-lacquering process, leaving us with pure aluminium ready to be remelted.

The entire recycling process of aluminium is highly energy-efficient, requiring just 5 per cent of the energy needed for the production of primary aluminium metal.

Judge comments: "In achieving the hitherto impossible task of making aluminium with 100 per cent recycled content, Hydro is heralding a future in which we no longer have to mine new bauxite to make aluminium. Through its industrial-scale manufacturing facilities, the company is already making massive leaps in turning this dream into a reality."

"With CIRCAL 100R, Hydro has cemented aluminium as a truly circular material of the future, making good on its promise of infinite recyclability with no waste. Its impact is sure to be felt far beyond the world of design and architecture, offering a rare glimpse of not just hope but real progress."

Studio: Hydro
Project: Hydro CIRCAL 100R