The Use of Recycled Materials
Sustainable Development in the Built Environment
Open any current affairs periodical and several issues immediately leap off the pages: Global warming and climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, Record oil prices caused by shrinking fossil fuel reserves and exponential demand, Rush hour traffic gridlock in major cities, etc. It is no coincidence that these problems are related and are universal in their effect. "It's not my problem" no longer cuts any ice as every person on the planet is affected. The good news is that there is a solution to the problem, and it is called Sustainable Development.
For many people this is only a catch-phrase but for anyone with an eye on the future it is a concept vital to the very survival of the planet. So what is it exactly? Sustainable development is about renewable resources, recycling, clean energy and energy efficiency. How can you make a difference? Whether specifying, or building, always choose products that are energy efficient, that have a low embodied energy, that are made using recycled materials, that can be recycled and that do not pollute the environment.
Cape Brick, located in Salt River, manufactures the only truly environmentally friendly bricks in the Cape. Why can we make this claim? Because together with Ross Demolition, we acquire, crush and sort construction and demolition rubble into recycled crushed aggregate, which is then used in turn as the main ingredient in our bricks. This is our contribution to building a better environment.
The direct environmental benefits are:
Less virgin aggregates have to be quarried, reducing the mining impact on the environment.
With the scarcity of raw materials, most quarries are located far from their markets, so not using these materials also results in reduced transport requirements.
The construction and demolition rubble would normally be dumped, so using it as a material source eases the pressure on landfill sites.
Most landfill sites are located far from the demolition site, so using these materials results in reduced transport requirements.
Cape Brick's own waste material is reprocessed and therefore does not have to be dumped, easing pressure on landfill sites and reducing transport requirements.
Reduced transport requirements translate directly to less fossil fuel usage and less greenhouse gas emissions, as well as less traffic congestion. This leads to reduced pressure on the national asset as well as reduced pressure on the environment. Not to mention that our bricks have possibly the lowest embodied energy of any masonry product available in the Cape, are fully recyclable, and that all of this comes at no increase in cost and no compromise in quality standards.
For further information please contact Jean Tresfon at Cape Brick (021) 511-2006.