Lignacite see block sales soar
Company announces 40% increase in sales of masonry block products since start of 2013
MASONRY products manufacturers Lignacite have announced a 40% increase in sales of their masonry block products since the start of 2013. In July alone, the company sold a record 180,000 square metres of blocks; enough to build more than 1,800 houses.
Lignacite manufacture masonry products that incorporate a range of recycled and waste materials, including glass, wood particles, furnace ash, recycled concrete, china clay and shells. The company’s purpose-built and fully automated manufacturing plants at Brandon, in Suffolk, and Nazeing, in Essex, have a combined production capacity of 21 million blocks per annum.
According to chairman Giles de Lotbiniere, there are a number of reasons for the recent explosive growth: ‘There has been some consolidation in our market sector, and this, combined with our modern plants, has boosted our sales. We have short lead times and can quickly adapt to the market, and a number of delayed building projects have now been restarted,’ he said.
‘Our innovation and forward-thinking also mean we are able to provide carbon-negative products, such as The Carbon Buster. This meets and exceeds existing building codes and these are becoming increasingly important to customers.’
In line with the latest construction trade surveys, private housing was one of the key contributors to the company’s improving workloads, however Lignacite say growth is also being generated from the education and health sectors, as well as office developments.
The company has also received a substantial number of enquiries from all over the world, including Europe, Australia and Canada, about the world’s first carbon-negative Carbon Buster block, which was launched in May this year.
Developed by Lignacite in partnership with Carbon8 Aggregates, using their award winning Accelerated Carbonation Technology, the Carbon Buster incorporates more than 50% recycled aggregate combined with carbonated aggregates derived from by-products from waste-to-energy plants.
The end result is a high-performance masonry product, and the first ever building block to capture more carbon dioxide than is emitted during its manufacture.
