Brown Recycling sends rejected pottery to Cauldon cement plant

Brown Recycling processes ‘pitcher waste’ – pottery that has been broken or rejected in the course of manufacture, crushing the waste it receives from ceramics companies such as Wedgewood, Steelite and Churchill, before delivering it in bulk to Aggregate Industries’ Cauldon Cement Plant.

For the partnership, an initial 4,000 tonnes per annum will be delivered with the view to expand. At Cauldon, it is used as an alternative raw material and mixed with other components to create cement.

Repurposing

In the past, pitcher pottery waste would have been disposed of in landfill, so this repurposes an otherwise waste material, also reducing 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 utilising what essentially is 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 have to 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 decarbonisation agenda and we want to move from a take-make-waste economy to a reduce-recycle-regenerate one.”

‘Industrial symbiosis’

Mitch Brown, co-managing director at Brown Recycling, said: “This partnership 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 said to be 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.