Aggregate Industries get fired up for recycled pottery

Local ceramic waste to be utilized in cement production process at Cauldon cement plant

THOUSANDS of tonnes of broken and rejected pottery is to be recycled by Aggregate Industries to help create cement at their Staffordshire plant. The company has partnered with Brown Recycling who process ‘pitcher waste’ – the pottery that has been broken or rejected during manufacture.

Brown Recycling, the Stoke-on-Trent-based total waste-management solutions business, crush the pitcher waste they receive from ceramics companies such as Wedgewood, Steelite, and Churchill, and deliver it in bulk to the Cauldon Cement Plant, near Leek.

An initial 4,000 tonnes per annum will be delivered with a view to expanding this going forward. At Cauldon it is used as an alternative raw material and mixed with other components to create cement.

The pitcher pottery waste would in the past have been disposed of in landfill, so this partnership repurposes an otherwise waste material and reduces the amount of natural resources which have to be extracted for cement production.

Andrew Whyatt, Geocycle UK general manager at Aggregate Industries, said: ‘We’re delighted to be working with Brown Recycling and utilizing what is essentially a waste stream into new cement which will go on to be used in building projects around the country.

‘Using the waste pottery and upcycling it into the cement production process means we can use less raw materials dug up from the ground, therefore preserving resources and preventing materials from going to landfill.

‘Circularity is a central part of our decarbonization agenda, and we want to move from a take-make-waste economy to a reduce-recycle-regenerate one.’

Mitch Brown, co-managing director of Brown Recycling, added: ‘As a Staffordshire-based business with a long heritage in sustainable waste management, we are always looking for ways to ensure the commercial waste we collect and process is recycled and reused.

‘This is an excellent example of regional industrial symbiosis and the circular economy model of recycling and reintroducing this local waste into another production cycle. It also builds on our expertise in ceramic waste management, delivering a long-term sustainable solution for pitcher waste with a 100% recycle and reuse outcome.

‘Our partnership with Aggregate Industries is a great example of this and we’re looking forward to working with them on similar opportunities for other waste materials.’

Cauldon was Britain’s first dry process cement plant when it opened in 1957. The plant produces one million tonnes of cement a year and employs 125 permanent staff and 30 contractors.