The startup team “Yuanjing Co., Ltd.,” incubated by the Startup Land at National Chung Cheng University (CCU), identified the hidden costs and resource waste in pool material replacement through hands-on pool management experience. Motivated by this insight, the team began developing recycled glass filter media that not only enhanced water filtration efficiency but also transformed colored glass waste—one of the most difficult materials to process in Taiwan’s recycling system—into high-value, eco-friendly materials, embodying both circular economy and social responsibility.
Founder Tzu-Ching Huang, a student from CCU’s Department of Sports, Health, and Leisure Education and a former competitive swimmer, started a pool management company while still in school, offering lifeguard and maintenance services to community swimming pools. He observed that quartz sand filter materials required frequent replacement, which was labor-intensive and time-consuming. During a business trip to China, he was introduced to filter media made from recycled glass. Upon returning to Taiwan, he leveraged his family’s glass industry background to found Yuanjing and began developing the technology locally.
Compared to traditional quartz sand, glass sand filter media provided better filtration and water clarity while being more durable and easier to clean, with a lifespan of four to five years. More importantly, it carried significant social and environmental value by addressing Taiwan’s long-standing issue of colored glass accumulation. Due to the low recycling profits of green and brown glass, most private recyclers were unwilling to collect it, resulting in massive stockpiles at public recycling centers that took up valuable space.
Huang explained that the company repurposed this discarded glass—once considered waste—by grinding and processing it into reusable glass filter media. This approach reduced the burden on recycling systems and provided an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to quartz sand, which relied on environmentally harmful natural mineral extraction. In contrast, glass sand was a genuine “circular economy product.”
“We aimed not only to create a product but to offer a solution that benefited both society and the environment,” said Huang. This initiative represented not just an example of youth innovation but also a new-generation entrepreneurial response to environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
The team expanded the applications of their glass filter media beyond swimming pools, exploring uses in architectural paving, landscape design, and water purification systems. They also received Phase 1 funding from the Ministry of Education’s U-start Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program and progressed toward Phase 2, aiming to accumulate more resources and momentum for the sustainable development of recycled glass materials.
CCU Vice President and the Startup Land Director Dr. Hsin-Yuan Hung stated that the university’s entrepreneurship base would continue to integrate internal and external resources, enhance mentorship mechanisms, and build stronger industry and market connections. The goal was to help young teams grow steadily and sustainably on their innovation journey, reinforcing CCU’s role as a nurturing hub for next-generation entrepreneurs.