KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Niro Ceramic Group is proud to announce that its flagship surface innovation, Niro Granite Slip Stop®, has won the Leadership in Sustainability Award under Category 4A: Sustainable Materials and Products at the Malaysia Green Building Council Leadership in Sustainability Awards 2026.
Held in conjunction with Cities Climate Connect 2026, the awards recognize pioneer solutions advancing climate action, circular construction, and resilient cities. The accolade highlights Niro Granite’s position as the first manufacturer to introduce pioneer slip-stop technology to the Malaysian market, setting a new benchmark for material efficiency, low-emission manufacturing, and public safety.
Unlike conventional anti-slip tiles that rely on post-firing abrasive sprays, mechanical acid-etching, or rough textures, Niro Granite Slip Stop® utilizes a proprietary single-fire infused-glaze process. Applied immediately after 6-color digital inkjet printing, the safety layer fuses directly into the tile body during vitrification. The resulting surface provides high wet slip resistance (P5) while remaining smooth to the touch when dry (P2), enabling a single tile specification across both wet and dry areas to minimize cutting and installation waste.
“Winning the MalaysiaGBC Leadership in Sustainability Award validates our commitment to sustainable engineering and ESG principles,” said Ian Kok, Managing Director at Niro Ceramic Group. “As pioneers of slip-stop technology in Malaysia, our goal was to solve a critical Occupational Health and Safety challenge—preventing slip-and-fall injuries—while actively driving measurable decarbonisation and resource efficiency across the product’s entire lifecycle.”
The award submission demonstrated Slip Stop®’s measurable impacts across core sustainability pillars:
- Decarbonisation & Kiln Efficiency: Following the commissioning of an upgraded kiln system in 2025 with heat recovery integration, kiln operations achieved a reduction in electricity consumption, a reduction in kiln natural gas usage, and an drop in dryer natural gas consumption. This drove a reduction in overall carbon intensity to (compared to 2024 baseline).
- Circularity & Natural Resource Stewardship: Formulated from natural kaolin clay and feldspar, the tiles incorporate recycled content from unfired scraps and post-fired rejects. Manufacturing operations utilized recycled industrial wastewater in FY2025. Composed of 100% inorganic minerals with zero plastics or petroleum derivatives, its VOC emissions remain ultra-low and strictly within indoor air safety standards.
- Social Inclusion & Universal Safety: Serving as an OHS risk mitigation strategy, Slip Stop® ensures safe, barrier-free mobility for vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities (OKU).
- Governance & Operational Lifecycle Value: The permanent glaze eliminates the need for recurring topical anti-slip chemical sprays that flush synthetic polymers into municipal water systems. Its smooth dry texture and Class 4 stain resistance require only water and non-harsh cleaners, preventing toxic chemical runoff and lowering 20-year building operating costs.
The technology is proven in high-profile developments across Malaysia, including the adaptive re-use creative hub APW Bangsar—where leftover tiles were repurposed into benches and planters—and R&R Seremban Southbound, Malaysia’s first sustainable highway rest area, where the tiles optimize harvested rainwater usage across public corridors, washrooms, and the surau.
Niro Granite Slip Stop® is backed by third-party certifications including an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD verified by SCS Global Services), SIRIM Eco-Label, Singapore Green Label Scheme (SGLS), MyHijau, and ISO 14001 / ISO 50001 certifications. Slip Stop® also ontained the Malaysia Good Design Award in 2025.
For more information, please visit https://nirogranite.com.
