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[August 2006]
H & R Johnson - In the Mix
Architects wishing to work in partnership with environmentally-responsible suppliers will appreciate the great lengths to which H & R Johnson has gone to minimise waste at its Stoke-on-Trent production facility.The UK’s leading tile manufacturer has always been a popular choice with architects and specifiers for the quality of its tiles and their practicality for numerous applications.
However, H & R Johnson set out to ensure it also supplies these products in the most environmentally-friendly way. The company recycles all waste arising from it own the production process - unfired matter is fed back into the production process, and fired matter is crushed into small pieces and ground into a powder before being mixed with other components such as ball clays and feldspar.
H & R Johnson’s commitment to research further ways it could recycle all production waste also led the company to pioneer an ingenious scheme in the 1990s. They trialled a process whereby H & R Johnson recycled other ceramic and pottery manufacturers’ high-grade tableware waste into its own standard production tiles.
Contributing companies merely have to deliver their waste to H & R Johnson, with the only stipulation being that the fired waste is free of contamination – particularly other materials such as paper and plastic. H & R Johnson has extended the practice to incorporate ten manufacturers in the North Staffordshire area, and the scheme now saves over 7,500 tonnes of waste being dumped into landfill sites each year. The initiative has been recognised for its contribution to the company’s commitment to the environment, with The Queen’s Award for Environmental Achievement followed by the coveted ISO14001 from the British Standards Institution – the first time a whitewares manufacturer has received the accreditation.
A high profile example of H & R Johnson’s approach can be seen with its involvement at the extensive refurbishment project at Oxford Circus, one of the busiest tube stations in the London Underground network. Focussing on sustainability and the benefits of recycling, the refurbishment has seen the original tiles made by H&R Johnson over twenty-five years ago carefully removed and sent back to the same leading tile manufacturer’s factory in Stoke-on-Trent to be recycled back into the new tile body.
Over 15,000m2 of original tiling has been removed from several platforms and interconnecting corridors at the tube station, which handles up to 55,000 people per hour in peak periods and sent to H&R Johnson to be recycled back into the new tiles. Designed by Atkins Design on behalf of Metronet Rail BCV and London Underground, the new look Oxford Circus will utilise over 15,000m2 of exclusive ceramics designed to London Underground’s own specifications in Gloss White and Black, creating a modern yet durable environment.
For further information, please contact:
Kathryn Hull, Communique Public Relations kathryn.hull@communiquepr.co.uk
ENDS