There is a perception that any product or material with the word “natural” in front of it, is inherently more healthy, safer - or simply better - than a man-made or synthetic alternative. After all, “natural” means that something is present in, or produced by, nature. But does it mean it’s inherently more sustainable?
Anton Bourtsev - Director at the helm of Kaolin, the only tile supplier/manufacturer in Australia producing 100% sustainable porcelain tiles - doesn’t think so. Particularly, when it comes to natural stone. “The thing with natural stone is that the word ‘natural’ has this positive, beautiful association with it,” he says. “But it’s actually a natural resource - and one that will soon be depleted, too.” Anton mentions Italy’s Carrara mountains, renowned for their white marble around the world. “The whole mountain range is going to be gone one day.”
Beyond depletion - the most prominent aspect of environmental devastation, according to Anton - stone production creates a substantial amount of waste, too. “Let’s say you buy a marble bench for your kitchen,” he says. “Almost exactly the same amount of stone is being thrown away.”
However, perhaps the biggest point of contention is the notion of social responsibility. According to the “Child Labour in Mining and Global Supply Chains” report by the International Labour Organization, over one million - a completely unacceptable number - of children are used to labour in mines and quarries. “When ‘Blood Diamond’ came out, everybody started questioning the origin of diamonds they were buying because nobody wanted to buy them from the conflict zone,” Anton says. “The same conscience should be applied here.”
Anton clarifies that - of course - that there are reliable stone suppliers with ethical work practices. What he highlights, however, is the importance of querying sources to ensure the products come from a reputable place with ethical working practices - which isn’t always as straight-forward. “If you have a stone supplier with 20 or 30 different slab options, each of these is likely to come from a different quarry,” he adds. “Does each one of them uphold ethical labour standards?”
Precious Stone Collection takes the uncertainty out of the equation. Kaolin’s core product range offers architects and designers access to the beauty of the patterns traditionally associated with natural stone, but without running the risk of contributing to the unethical supply chain problem.
“The Precious Stone Collection is a sustainable alternative to natural stone,” Anton describes the signature porcelain range. Like all Kaolin products, the collection holds Global Green Tag Level A Certification and is manufactured by Kaolin’s family-owned manufacturer, Guanxing Ceramics - a state-of-the-art facility and industry leader when it comes to environmental sustainability and ethical manufacturing practices.
The process of manufacturing Kaolin’s porcelain tiles is significantly less invasive than the production of natural stone, too. They are made by scanning natural stones, and then digitally printing the visual in extremely high quality. “We print 12 layers, which generates incredible realism and depth,” Anton explains. “They look so real that many people visiting our showroom are convinced the tiles are made out of natural stone.”
This manufacturing method means that the porcelain product can genuinely match the aesthetic of any natural stone, while offering a plethora of benefits the stone simply can’t. As a depleting resource, certain varieties of stone are already becoming unavailable - and there are slab size limitations which may be prohibitive from selecting specific stones for larger surfaces. That means it’s becoming increasingly difficult to achieve seamless and cohesive visual outcomes across more robust surfaces, and the stone itself is becoming less accessible, and more expensive. “Some natural stones, like Sodalite or Patagonia can cost up to $2,000 to $4,000 per square metre,” Anton points out.
Precious Stone Collection, on the other hand, really shines where availability, design cohesion and price are concerned.
While natural stones are becoming less available, Kaolin’s manufacturing practices allow the company to release new designs and patterns every year. And where natural stone offers surface size and vein connectivity limitations, Precious Stone Collection - alongside Kaolin’s new Endless Vein Collection or Seamless Joint, a product so exact that grout joints as small as 0.5mm can be used - allows designers to create large format surfaces without compromising on the continuity of the pattern. “It’s almost impossible to achieve the same effect with natural stone,” Anton adds. “And if a tile breaks or is lost, Kaolin can make another one just like it.”
And while the main appeal of natural stone is, in essence, its beauty, Kaolin's core collection offers a much more comprehensive durability profile. “When it comes to performance, the tiles surpass natural stone in every way. They’re heat, scratch and stain resistant. They don’t really have weak points,” he adds with a smile. “With natural stone, its beautiful features, the veins, that's where the cracks normally occur. Their beauty is their weak point.”
Beautiful, durable, easy to maintain and sustainable, Kaolin’s porcelain tiles are made from the most abundant raw materials, sourced within a 300 km radius of the factory, which allows them control over their practices. And while they may not have the word “natural” associated with them the way stone does, Kaolin’s products are non-toxic. In fact, the name of the brand and the clay the tiles are made of is Kaolin, China’s soft white clay widely used for the production of porcelain cups - and cosmetics. “Porcelain’s VOC emissions are virtually non-existent, which makes it a genuinely harmless material,” Anton sums up. “If we drink from vessels made from it, and put potions made with it on our skin, it is definitely safe enough to incorporate in the interiors of our buildings.”
