STONEGLASS BUILDING PRODUCTS LTD

Executive Summary

of a feasibility study relating to the

creation and operation of a

television and computer dismantling centre

in Stoke-on-Trent

June 2006

The study was largely funded by Staffordshire Environmental Fund via

the Landfill Communities Fund

1. The intention of the study, largely funded by the Staffordshire Environmental Fund through the Landfill Communities Fund, was to provide a comprehensive appraisal of the technical and commercial feasibility of establishing a waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disassembly and recycling hub in Stoke-on-Trent.

2. The enterprise would ideally comprise three grouped and interacting components: (i) a WEEE disassembly plant built alongside (ii) a grinding/milling plant to process the recovered glass from the WEEE waste-stream and supply it as primary feedstock to (iii) a factory producing commercial building products using Staffordshire University’s Stoneglass technology.

3. A consortium of four partners, each with the specialist technical knowledge and commercial experience pertinent to different aspects of the proposed project, was assembled by the project coordinator in a joint participation. The participating partners and their responsibilities were as follows:

1. The Electrical Recycling Company (WEEE disassembly plant)

2. Powder Processing Design Services (waste glass milling plant)

3. Glass Technology Services (legislation, specifications and logistics)

4. Stoneglass Building Products (lead-partner and project co-ordinator)

4. The study’s conclusions of the study and each partner’s contribution can be summarised as follows:

5. The Electrical Recycling Company [ERC] developed a plant design with the capacity to take-in and process annually a mix of 250,000 television and computer monitors which would yield 1,300 tonnes of panel glass. ERC’s view, confirmed by its costing-model, is that the establishment of such a plant in Stoke-on-Trent presents a profitable commercial enterprise with a satisfactory investment opportunity in terms of return on capital. The anticipated introduction of the WEEE Directive in April 2007 would appear to further enhance the project’s potential, enabling Stoke-on-Trent’s through its strategic position to be a hub for a facility that would service the surrounding urban region.

6. Powder Processing Design Services [PPDS] designed and costed two alternative sizes of milling plant. One plant had a throughput capacity of 60,000 tonnes of glass per annum whilst the other had a throughput capacity of 15,000 tonnes per annum. Using current values for ‘processed’ glass, the costings showed that the larger plant had a viable ‘stand-alone’ capability whilst the reduced throughput of the smaller plant significantly reduced its projected profitability. However, the partial substitution of reconditioned second-hand equipment for new equipment in the plant’s layout along with the possibility of marketing a coarse fraction of the milled glass product to another industrial end use at a potentially high price, had a significant and positive influence on the overall economics of both plants.

7. Glass Technology Services [GTS] conducted a detailed desk-top study of the legislative, political and economic policies that still shaped the future supply pattern of WEEE components ahead of the legislation’s implementation in April 2007.

8. The feasibility study provides a framework for evaluating the potential success of the

proposed Stoke-on-Trent enterprise. Alternative ceramic products using Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) front-panel glass as a feedstock have been reviewed and the conclusion reached was that none had the capability of using the substantial tonnages that the Stoneglass process is expected to use. A study of the logistics and costs of the transportation of television and computer CRTs to the proposed Centre has been undertaken and the potential for the bulk movement of the materials by canal has been highlighted.

9. In summary, this study has resulted in a concise and favourable technical and commercial appraisal of the attractive benefits of establishing a WEEE recycling hub in Stoke-on-Trent with supporting information and stated conclusions. Moreover, it concludes that if there is combined with the favourable potential of setting-up a Dismantling and Recycling Centre, the opportunity of also creating an adjacent glass-milling plant to provide consistently prepared feedstock for the envisaged new masonry products factory^, then the proposal as a whole offers a unique opportunity to generate employment and use further ‘local’ technical expertise in the buoyant and growth area of waste recycling. It also concludes that the project as a whole would be of substantial benefit to the City of Stoke-on-Trent and its commercial future.