Brand & Rae - going green block by block

Background

Brand & Rae was founded in 1948 and began by manufacturing ‘Breeze Blocks’ for the post-war construction industry.  The firm now makes about 11 million dense and lightweight concrete blocks per year and its products covering a wide range of specifications.  It also supplies concrete bricks, bagged aggregates (including sand, gravel and decorative stone) and offers a specialised delivery service for ready mixed concrete.  In 2005 the company won a special VIBES award for making over £30,000 worth of water, electricity and aggregate savings.

Trials of new materials

Brand & Rae received funding from the Scottish Government through WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) to carry out commercial scale trials of recycled glass as a replacement for non-renewable primary aggregate materials, such as sand.  The trials showed conclusively that recycled glass represents a commercially viable alternative to traditional natural aggregates.

Following the trials, the company introduced a number of new 440 x 215 x 140mm 20kg block products which incorporate recycled materials to the market in 2006/7.  The blocks are supplied extensively throughout Scotland and north-east England and to meet increasing customer demand the company opened additional manufacturing bases; Bonnyrigg in 2000, Kelso in 2005, Dundee in 2006 and in Aberdeen in 2007.

Business & environmental benefits

The trials found that the optimum proportion of primary aggregates to be replaced by recycled crushed glass was 30%.  Brand and Rae is committed to producing and marketing this type of concrete block but more glass needs to be made available.  The company estimate they could use upto 65,000 tonnes of glass per year.

The Scottish Government has requested all public bodies ensure that public sector construction projects in Scotland should use a minimum of 10% recycled content across the range of products and materials used.

Reduced travelling distances associated with using glass has also lead to lower transport emissions. 

The company continues to show a significant commitment to the environment by carrying out a number of initiatives ranging from recycling ink cartridges, using sustainably sourced paper paper and environmentally-friendly cleaning products to reducing mains water usage, re-using damaged concrete blocks and designing and creating a new bonus scheme for the factory manager to minimise block production waste.