Mineral waste – valuable resources for the clay brick and tile industry

»1 EurGeol Dr. rer. nat. Lutz Krakow shows Zi Editor Anett Fischer the potential of mineral waste in Germany

»2 Overview of the global consumption of resources [1]

»3 Clay sedimentation rate

»4 Potential clay substitute materials: clay mineral sludge from sand, gravel and stone washing, annual quantities: Germany around 15 mill. t, Central Europe around 50 mill. t

»5 Real clay substitute materials: example Ueffeln Quarry – clay mineral overburden, crushing and use of 150 000 t/a in the clay brick and tile industry since 2002

»6 Real clay substitute materials: dewatering on membrane filter presses, at around 15 locations in Germany with around 750 000 t filter cake

»7 Fired body thermal conductivity relative to the body density for selected working batches and real clay substitute materials

»8 A large part of the mineral waste is currently landfilled – Dr. rer. nat. Lutz Krakow is working to make sure that this will soon change

Resource efficiency is a major concern in EU policy. The flagship initiative “Resource-Efficient Europe” was launched to support the transition to a low-emission economy that uses its resources efficiently. EurGeol Dr. rer. nat. Lutz Krakow, a leading expert on utilizing waste materials in the clay brick and tile industry, explained to us the possibilities for using mineral waste in clay bricks and tiles.

The European Union has established that we can no longer afford to consume resources on the scale we have done so far. Does that also apply to the resources for our clay bricks and tiles?

The two of us will probably not live long enough to see the depletion of the clay deposits on earth. But if we want to leave something for our children and grandchildren, then I have to answer your question with a definite yes.

The annual consumption of clay worldwide currently totals just under 500 mill. tonnes, exceeding the ability to regenerate deposits many times over. For the formation of just a...

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