Developing industrial symbiosis using UK waste clay resources for new generation building materials

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This project will improve resource efficiency and symbiosis between UK foundation industries by utilising waste derived clay from the ceramics sector to produce high value innovative cement formulations. It will develop industrial connections and enhance UK supply chains by providing new low carbon resource efficient products for the UK construction industry. In doing so it will help to secure UK jobs and GVA.Clay is a raw material common to three of the UK foundation industries; cement, ceramics and paper. Higher-grade clays such as China clay are extracted for the manufacture of white ceramics and paper. Medium-grade clays are extracted to manufacture ceramics such as bricks and tiles, whereas lower-grade clays are extracted and utilised by the UK cement industry to produce Portland cement clinker.Waste derived clay material is generated during the extraction of higher-grade clays and through production and use of medium-grade clays (waste bricks/brick fines).In this project, waste derived clay from several different sources will be characterised and tested for the properties useful for cement and concrete production. Waste derived clays will be prepared using two different heating methods to enable comparisons of the resulting properties. These methods are a rotary kiln, a commonly available technology and 'flash heating', a new and innovative heating technique not yet trialled in the UK.The prepared material will be expertly formulated into cement compositions which will be tested for conformity to EU/UK standards. Concrete mixes using these clay cements will be developed and optimised with mix enhancing chemical admixtures. Both fresh and hardened properties will be examined to maximise the market potential of the new cements.The information from the testing and pilot work will be presented to the national standards body to modify the national concrete standards to remove a barrier to market for these new cements.Deployment of these new cements on the UK market could reduce waste by 1.4 million tonnes and reduce the embodied CO2 of cement by around 10-30% compared to the market leading CEM I cement.