New purpose in life for humble sludge with Brandix magic

Apparel giant donates unique sludge bricks to Marks & Start for training centre for differently-abled

Construction bricks made from primary sludge generated by industrial waste conversion, will form the walls of a new vocational training centre for the differently-abled in Sri Lanka in an initiative that showcases innovation, environmental conservation and caring by two apparel sector giants, Sri Lanka’s Brandix Group and the UK’s Marks & Spencer along with other suppliers to Marks & Spencer in Sri Lanka.

The first consignment of these unique bricks developed and produced by Brandix Finishing at Ratmalana after extensive research and testing, have been donated to Rehab Lanka by Brandix for the construction of a two storied training centre cum workshop near the Khettarama Cricket Stadium.

The project is funded by Marks & Start, the flagship community programme of Marks & Spencer.

Made out of primary sludge, used pumice stones and silica waste from the sand used for sandblasting during the garment washing, dyeing and finishing processes at Brandix Finishing, these solid bricks have a compressive strength of 3.2 Newtons per square millimetre, more than double that of the standard concrete blocks used in construction.

Significantly, the cost of production per brick at just Rs 14 (excluding the savings that would otherwise be incurred on disposing of the sludge) is more than two and a half times lower than the Rs 37 at which concrete blocks of the same size are retailed in the market.

“The conversion of solid waste into bricks carries many notable advantages,” said Hilary Nath, Head of Environment Management and Research at Brandix. “A large volume of primary sludge is generated in the garment washing industry, and this project enables us to recycle most of it and contribute to the preservation of the environment. Additionally, we are producing high quality building material at a very low cost.”

Explaining the process, he said pumice stones decay during the washing process and come to the wastewater stream along with silica silt and pebbles. The silica silt and the pebbles of pumice stones form a major part of the primary sludge settled during the physical treatment process.

To produce the bricks, the pumice pebbles are separated from the primary sludge, crushed and re-mixed with the sludge, waste sand some cement.

This process, perfected at Brandix Finishing earlier this year, utilises 60 per cent of all the primary sludge generated by the plant and all of the used pumice stone and sandblast sand. With two people working on the project for two and a half hours a day, the company can produce 50 sludge bricks.

The curing process takes 21 days, at the end of which the bricks reach their full compressive strength.

The Rehab Lanka Training Centre, which will be the first building to be built with these bricks will comprise of a facility to train differently-abled people in the operation of sewing machines and a workshop for the fabrication of wheel chairs and other aides for the differently-abled. The centre is one of many skills development initiatives coming under Marks & Spencer’s Marks & Start programme, which aims to give the opportunity of work experience to differently-abled people, the homeless, young unemployed and parents looking to return to work.

Brandix pioneered the concept of total solutions in the Sri Lankan apparel industry and is Sri Lanka’s largest apparel exporter with a consolidated annual turnover of over US$ 320 million.

The Group’s CSR initiatives are primarily focused on water, which it uses in large volumes in its manufacturing processes. Brandix has invested Rs 25 million in a training facility and laboratory for water conservation and management in Anuradhapura. Other initiatives include providing water through desalination plants, wells and pipe-borne water to communities in and around the Group’s manufacturing plants.

The scope of the Group’s projects has also been extended to encompass sanitation.