Post- industrial Recycled content in Ceramic Tiles

The process described sounds like internal reclamation, not recycling. Reusing unfired clay is a normal practice in the ceramics industry. This practice does not divert material from landfills, and it does not qualify as recycling. Ceramics factories sometimes also reuse what they call “grog” or “pitchers,” which are crushed remnants of fired clay. Neither does this qualify as recycling if the material comes from the same process that produces the final product. I am aware of one US tile maker that purchases rejected porcelain from a plumbing fixture manufacturer, crushes it, and incorporates the material into the clay for their tiles. This example qualifies as pre-consumer recycling.

Hi Jon, Do you know if water closets are included in the Total Material Cost? It is a permanent installed material made of ceramic but it is a plumbing equipment too, so is confusing if we should include or exclude that product of our total materials cost. Thank you,

As noted in the LEED-2009 Reference Guides, MR Credits 3 through 7 only permit you to include materials and costs from CSI-MasterFormat-2004 Divisions 3 through 10 and Sections 31.60.00, 32.10.00, 32.30.00, & 32.90.00, plus optional Division 12 furniture. This excludes products that fall into other CSI classifications (such as equipment, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, earthwork, irrigation, utilities, transportation, marine work, demolition, and temporary construction). CSI classifies water closets in Section 22.40.00 Plumbing Fixtures, so they cannot figure into the MR Credit calculations for LEED-2009. However, as noted in the discussion above, if porcelain plumbing fixtures are crushed and used as an ingredient in clay tile, which CSI classifies in Division 09 Finishes, the cost of the tiles would be included in the Total Material Cost, and their recycled content would contribute toward MRc4.