Brick Manufacturing lends itself to recycling. While today it's
recognised that the shales and clays are a valuable resource, it wasn't always the case. Unsightly spoil heaps at old coal mines would seem an unlikely benefit to anyone but Caradale can extract and use the discarded clays and shales from them. At the same time the environmental impact of the old workings can be reduced: the spoil heaps at least partially removed, then stabilised and landscaped.

In the brick making process itself "waste" material is simply gathered up and
fed in to the hoppers again.   Fired bricks which are selected out by the Quality process are also reused. Waste bricks are stored until that type is being produced and then fed into the crushers to be blended with new material. Most of Caradale's production contains around 3% recycled material.

Perhaps though, the greatest potential for recycling lies in the fuel burden of the firing process. Raising the temperature of tons of clay to the point where the silicate content sinters to form a solid brick is energy intensive. Much of
this heat could simply be lost. And again, as the fired bricks cool, the heat
they contain could simply be lost into the environment.

Caradale uses this "waste" heat in the production process.  It makes both environmental sense and economic sense. By planning carefully the sequence of operation of the Hoffmann kiln, heat which might otherwise be lost is recycled within the kiln itself to preheat the bricks prior to firing - again reducing energy consumption.