REDUCE: CERAMIC WASTE
Excerpt from the newsletter of June 7, 2024.
The lack of recyclability of finished ceramics has always bothered me. Under the action of a fairly high heat (over 573 degrees Celsius), clay becomes ceramic, an irreversible change that has the effect of making the material permanent. The proof: we still find ceramic shards dating back thousands of years...
This is a subject that fascinates me because I would really like to avoid my practice generating waste. So I inquired with my city to learn more about the management of ceramic waste. In Quebec, the destination of ceramic waste is the ecocentre, and in the end, your broken cup will end up in the landfill site (LET: technical landfill site) with the construction residue.
The good news is that in recent years, solutions have emerged in small and large ceramic companies around the world. I am also setting up a project to investigate the possibility of reintegrating my own ceramic "waste" into my production. And I will be very happy to keep you informed of the progress of this project!
In the meantime, before even thinking about recycling ceramics, I thought it was essential to think about what to do to avoid generating waste in the first place. Here are several ways that I have integrated into my practice that allow me to generate a minimal amount of ceramic waste:
The quality
“Is this piece worth firing?” If the answer is “no,” we reclaim the clay and make a better piece with the material, quite simple! Being more selective about what we decide to fire is the first step in reducing the impact of our practice. Do I really need to make a piece or is a shard enough to do the test I want?
It's certainly not easy, especially when you're starting out and you're so proud of your first pieces... But quality comes with practice, and after a few years, these first pieces are likely to be judged much more harshly by the apprentice ceramicist who will have improved!
From the beginning, it is better to learn to detach yourself and keep a critical eye despite the excitement. Learning ceramics is long and requires a lot of practice to master the medium.
When I learned to throw, we started to keep our pieces only after a few weeks of lessons and practice. And my first pieces were actually 10 cylinders and none of them were fired: they were cut in 2 in order to evaluate the regularity of my throwing! ;)
In short, always think carefully before firing.
Reduce losses in production
For my part, after spending years wanting the whitest clay possible, I finally decided last year to move towards a less white clay, but which is easier to work with, and which is more resilient. Result: I almost no longer have pieces that warp during firing, or cracks at the joints, the main irreparable defects of my production in recent years. A compromise that was definitely worth it.
Retouching
The glazes I use have their own particularities, so it still happens that some of my pieces have slight imperfections like pinholes or crawling. In both cases, these are small holes where the glaze has retreated, which I can fill with a little glaze and then re-fire my pieces. In the majority of cases, I end up with a first-quality piece instead of a second-rate one.
Seconds
If, despite everything, a piece does not meet the necessary quality standards, but the defect present is minor and does not prevent the expected use of the pot, we have what we call a "second". I have been selling my seconds and prototypes for several years. I started doing it because I could not bring myself to destroy perfectly usable ceramics and send them to trash. Not only does selling your seconds avoid generating waste, but it also allows more people to buy local by offering these pots at a reduced price...
The alternatives
Do you have a piece that you love but unfortunately it has cracked or broken? Rather than heading to the ecocentre, there are alternatives for damaged ceramics. Here are a few examples:
Is the pot cracked? Is the handle broken? Why not use it as a pencil holder or a vase? Just avoid putting liquid in a piece that leaks though ;)
The piece broke into a few pieces that are easy to put back together? You should know that it is possible to glue a broken ceramic piece back together with Epoxy glue and that it works very well. Unfortunately, it will no longer be possible to drink or eat in a piece that has been glued back together. However, I do not offer a repair service, and I do not do Kintsugi either, in case you were wondering ;)
Is your pot broken into a thousand pieces? You can still use the pieces for a mosaic project. Some people also use ceramic pieces as drainage in the bottom of their plant pots, but be careful of cuts!
Do you have other ideas of what to do with broken ceramics? Do not hesitate to write to me, I will be happy to read you!