The leading building materials supplier has agreed a four-year deal with Johnson Tiles to take 20,000 tonnes of legacy waste and broken production scrap a year from its Stoke factory.

Thousands of tonnes of waste ceramics from one of the UK’s largest ceramic tile manufacturers will be recycled in order to make cement as part of a new initiative from Aggregate Industries.

The leading building materials supplier has agreed a four-year deal with Johnson Tiles to take 20,000 tonnes of legacy waste and broken production scrap a year from its Stoke factory.

The tiles will make the short trip from The Potteries to Aggregate Industries’ Cauldon cement plant in the Staffordshire Moorlands, where it will be used as an alternative raw material.

It will be crushed and mixed with limestone and other raw component parts before going through the chemical heat process in the kiln to make cement.

The recycled ceramics will replace virgin materials, such as shale, meaning less materials need to be extracted from the ground and natural resources can be prolonged for longer.

Andrew Whyatt, Geocycle UK General Manager at Aggregate Industries, said: “We are delighted to be working with such a Potteries stalwart as Johnson Tiles in order to recycle what would otherwise be a waste product.

"Materials such as this offer a great alternative to excavating fresh raw materials, preserving our local natural resources, while offering a solution whereby 100% of the material will be upcycled into new local cement. 

“It demonstrates our continued commitment to circularity at the plant and is firmly part of our sustainability strategy. We are continuously looking at alternative fuels and materials for cement production in order to lower our carbon emissions and boost circularity. 

“Both companies share a drive towards sustainable manufacturing and partnerships like this are vital as Aggregate Industries aims to reclaim or recycle three million tonnes of materials by 2025.”

Jason Bridges, Procurement and Production Director at Johnson Tiles, said: “Forming this partnership is a great example of industrial synergy and what can be achieved when different industries collaborate. 

“It’s wonderful to see waste from one industry replacing a virgin raw material in another. This fits with our own ambitions on reducing our environmental impact and closing the loop on process waste.”

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.