Manufacturer of ceramic tableware, Steelite International, has been working hard for many years to reduce its impact on the local and

global environment and been concentrating on the reduction of waste going to landfill as a top priority.

the company, which is privately owned and employs more than 650 people in the uK as well as 89 employees overseas, established teams during the final years of the last century to look at different aspects of the waste that the company produced.

It then set up several energy teams to run simultaneously with the aim of getting the figure for waste leaving the site recycled up to 75%: a major achievement since the ceramics industry is often regarded as having a ‘dirty’ reputation.

the company’s core ceramic tableware products are manufactured at its factory in Stoke-on-trent where up to half a million pieces of ware are made every week.

the company’s mission statement says: “our mission is to be the hospitality industry’s preferred choice for tabletop products, achieved through the combination of inspirational design, excellent quality and outstanding service while minimising our environmental impact.”

the big step change to take this further came in 2007 when Steelite made an £85,000 investment into a Lamella separator for the reclamation of clay waste from water.

to the company’s knowledge, this had never been done before, anywhere in the world. this type of filtration system had only been proven to work in the quarrying industry. this was a leap of faith for Steelite, but one that has changed the mindset of the company forever.

the system went in with the object being to reclaim waste clay from all the water leaving the site and then to reintroduce this back into the body as a three per cent secondary raw material.

once the plant was commissioned; the experiments began. this was a long and slow process of adding gradual amounts back into

the system and checking quality and durability for positive and negative gains.

the end result was agreed at a mixed rate of six per cent per reclaimed raw material for the best durability and quality results; with the added and unexpected result being that with the reclaimed material mixed in at six per cent, the product was more durable than with pure virgin material.

the facts as they stand today:• By running the Lamella plant Steelite saves

approximately 400 tonnes of fine body material from going to land fill per annum

• for every one tonne of virgin body material delivered to the factory the suppliers quarry and process 10 tonnes of soil

• this means that Steelite’s saving of 400 tonnes equates to a quarrying and process saving of 4,000 tonnes along with transport to the company’s site from Devon and cornwall of 400 tonnes. the previous settling plant that Steelite used to remove

No pottering around with recycling waste

the solids from the wastewater was heavily reliant on chemicals to aid settling in large tanks. this is not necessary now as the Lamella plant works with unmodified water and no chemicals; meaning the wastewater is purer when it is sent to drain

• the cost saving made on raw material has helped the company’s ability to supply customers worldwide at a competitive price from a uK source.

Steelite has also implemented the following:• It recycles 100% of pitcher waste (broken

crockery) through the waste being ground down into a secondary raw material for another local company to use in the production of floor tiles using a dust pressing process. this reduces the amount of raw materials being quarried and processed for manufacturing

• 100% of used plaster moulds are reused as raw material for reintroduction into the gypsum industry for the manufacture of plasterboards

• cardboard is collected fortnightly for recycling as is all waste office paper

• all scrap metal is sorted via waste carriers by type and then recycled through local metal product manufacturers, although a large amount of this is currently being bought by the chinese market

• the general waste is hand sorted by waste carriers to reclaim over 70% for recycling, with the remainder going for incineration to create electricity. this also is done at a local plant

• all the refractory waste (materials that are resistant to heat) is reclaimed by a local stone yard and is resold once crushed down as a general aggregate; this is mostly used for the base material for modern road laying

• Steelite now buys the majority of its office furniture from a specialist office furniture reclamation shop (the office furniture Shop), which buys second-hand office furniture and equipment and then resells it after grading itonce furniture has been bought from them,they take away the furniture the bought goods are replacing, re-grade it and again sell it on

• Steelite shares its ideas and demonstrates what it has achieved through spreading the word as widely as possible. this is carried out mainly through localgroups such as the British ceramic federation (Bcf) and the north StaffsHealth and Safety Group; both of which Steelite is an active member.

at the beginning of September, Steelite had its first ‘Green Week’; a week dedicated to informing its employees what the company does to protect the environment. It was also a good opportunity to show the local councils and trade associations the importance of recycling.

Steelite also ran a number of competitions to improve employee involvement in the green week. these included a children’s colouring competition that went down well.

the next aim for the company is potentially a further energy reduction and a switch to more renewable energy sources.

this is an area that all large, energy intensive companies are, or should be, looking at with the current uncertainty in the energy pricing and fluidity of the energy market.

the carbon price floor tax may make Her Majesty’s revenue and custom happy, but will no doubt hit industry hard; especially those who are not in a sector that gets large tax breaks on energy. RWW

Pat GriffinHealth, safety, environmental and training managerSteelite International

The next environmentally friendly target for the company is potentially a further energy reduction along with a switch to more renewable energy sources

Steelite made an £85,000 investment in a Lamella separator for the reclamation of clay waste from water

w w w . r e c y c l i n g w a s t e w o r l d . c o . u k8 October 20 2011& W A S T E W O R L DRecycling

Case Study

The ceramics industry is often regarded as having a ‘dirty’ reputation when it comes to environmental issues and recycling. Pat Griffin, health, safety, environmental and training manager at ceramic tableware manufacturer, Steelite International, explains what the company is doing to improve its eco record.