Chapter 36: Sustainability and recycling of masonry materials

Sustainability in the construction products sector is generally regarded as a process of manufacturing that takes into account the impacts upon the social and environmental well-being of mankind, locally, nationally and globally. Many of the brick and block manufacturers strive to use resources as efficiently as possible, to reduce waste, reduce the energy used in manufacture, encourage the reuse of materials and to design products with the longest possible life span. One major factor in this goal is the use of alternative, recycled, secondary raw materials, as an alternative to virgin primary raw materials, thus preserving the resources while reducing waste to landfill or low-value applications. For this to happen it is important to understand the selection and assessment process in the selection of these alternative materials, in order to achieve product quality and performance. However, sustainability should also take into account the ‘in use’ phase of the life-cycle analysis of a product. With many brick and block products this can be in excess of 100 years. Therefore a manufacturing process with a high initial ‘impact’ of either raw materials usage, energy, emissions, etc. can be reduced considerably as a result of that product having a very long and functional service life. It is for this reason that sustainability and impact analyses should be viewed over the whole life of a product, ‘cradle to grave’, rather than just at the point of manufacture, ‘cradle to gate’.