UK Ceramics Industry & Emissions

Ceramics have been produced in the UK for many centuries.

The fundamentals of production - shaping clays, followed by drying/firing and decorating - largely remain the same, but manufacturing has continually evolved.

Key stages in the industry’s decarbonisation have been:

  • Consolidation: Fewer factories as companies (and sites) have merged.

  • Efficiency: More efficient production, with advancements such as in kiln linings (ceramic refractories!), burners, kiln cars and adoption of heat recovery to capture/re-use waste heat.

  • Fuel-Switching: Around 1950s-1980s there was a switch-over from using solid fuels (mainly coal) for firing, to natural gas (the most carbon-efficient fuel readily available to support production at present).

The principal challenges for ceramic decarbonisation are around:

  • Dispersed many near raw materials, in all corners of UK, not in industrial cluster areas. Sites are unable to relocate given their local supply chains, long-life production assets and skilled employees.

  • Many Sites/SMEs … ¾ of businesses in the sector are small-medium sized businesses, accounting for ~ 10% of UK ceramics’ greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Small & Dilute Emissions … compared to other energy-intensive industries (both individually / collectively).

  • Diverse … in the breadth of products made, to methods and scale production (ranging from gram-level to hundreds of thousands of tonnes annual production at sites).

  • Process Emissions … ~ 1/3rd of total carbon emissions, a result of firing raw materials (predominantly clays) releasing inherent carbon content. There is currently no viable technological solution to abate process emissions in totality.