Masonry products manufacturer, Lignacite, has announced a 40 per cent increase in sales of its masonry block products since the start of 2013. In July alone, the company sold a record 180,000 square metres of blocks; enough to build more than 1800 houses.
Lignacite is a leading UK manufacturer of masonry products which incorporate a range of recycled and waste materials, including glass, wood particles, Furnace Ash, Recycled concrete, china clay and shells.
According to Lignacite’s Chairman, Giles de Lotbiniere, there are a number of reasons for the recent explosive growth: “There has been some consolidation in our market sector, and this, combined with our modern plants has boosted our sales. We have short lead times and can quickly adapt to the market and a number of delayed building projects have now been restarted. Our innovation and forward thinking also mean we are able to provide carbon negative products, such as The Carbon Buster. This meets and exceeds existing building codes and these are becoming increasingly important to customers.”
Lignacite has purpose-built and modern manufacturing plants at Brandon in Suffolk, and Nazeing in Essex. These are fully automated and have a combined production capacity of 21 million blocks per annum.
The modern plants, recycled content and sourcing of aggregates from their own quarry, all help to minimise the carbon footprint of Lignacite’s products. These have been supplied to many high profile buildings in the UK, including the Olympic Stadium, The Shard, Heathrow Airport and the Gherkin.
In line with the latest Construction Trade Survey, published last month by the Construction Products Association, private housing was one of the key contributors to the improving workloads, however, Lignacite’s growth is also being generated from the education and health sectors, as well as office developments.
The company has also received a substantial number of enquiries from all over the world, including Europe, Australia and Canada, about the world’s first carbon negative Carbon Buster block, which was launched in May 2013. This was developed by Lignacite in partnership with Carbon8 Aggregates, using their award winning Accelerated Carbonation Technology.
The Carbon Buster incorporates more than 50% recycled aggregates which are combined with Carbon8’s carbonated aggregates derived from by-products from waste to energy plants. The result is a high performing masonry product, and the first ever building block, which has captured more carbon dioxide than is emitted during its manufacture; 14kg CO2 per tonne to be exact.
