Landfilled CRTs recycled with flair

United States – ‘This tile was your TV’ is probably an opening line you’ve never heard before. But in short, it is what Fireclay Tile’s enterprise is all about.

The leading ceramic tile company is using 100% locally-sourced recycled glass – now also derived from long-landfilled cathode ray tube (CRT) screens.

Fireclay Tile purchases the CRT glass from e-scrap recycler ECS Refining and removes any remaining metal. The glass is then crushed, demagnified and handmade into coasters and colourful bathroom or kitchen tiles.  

‘Every tile we make helps get rid of the CRT glass we’ve got piling up around us,’ says company founder Paul Burns. ‘Now, as waves upon waves of sleek new technology endlessly hit stores, consumers are rushing out to purchase the next flat-screen device.’

The inclusion of landfilled products suitable for reuse provides an attractive business case, Burns points out. The CRT tiles, in fact, are cheaper than those produced using conventional glass.

In order to create moulds for a new product line, Fireclay Tile had launched a fundraising campaign on the web platform Kickstarter. Originally setting out to raise US$ 10 000, it attracted half as much again with a week still to go.

For more information, visit: www.fireclaytile.com