Caradale has a very simple philosophy to the potential environmental hazards concerned with brick manufacture - "If you control the material going into the kiln, you have control of the emissions coming out."

The main potential hazard in the brick manufacture process is the firing process.  The risk is from dirty flue gases and noxious emissions. Every manufacturer must comply with licensing codes. Caradale's flue gases only contain around half of the authorised emission levels.

Caradale tackles the problem from the source. The company selects its
shales and clays very carefully. Only deposits that are low in noxious minerals (particularly sulphur) are chosen as base materials. Every batch of clay from each source is sampled and monitored to ensure that its chemical composition remains constant. If we find that a shale or clay has changed,
we reject it.

As well as selecting only pure raw materials, the company uses traditional "clean burn" kilns in which the potential hazards are minimised by the design.
By maintaining the optimum temperature of over 1000°C and by allowing
sufficient air to flow through the kiln a strongly oxidising, rather than a reducing, atmosphere is created. Not only does this deal effectively with any residual trace quantities of potential pollutants, it gifts the warm, rich colours which characterise Caradale Traditional Brick.

It's a case of the aesthetic and the scientific being in harmony; the circle complete. When that happens you simply know it's the way it's meant to be.