Konrad Goess-Saurau believes that engineering experience is the key to a lucrative manufacturing business. As Executive Chairman, the entrepreneur is taking British Ceramic Tile on its own success story by looking to the UK’s industrial past. Gary Price reports

A technology to manufacture bricks from waste fly ash will be put to the test in a new factory in Hebi, China. Australian manufacturer Vecor is drawing up plans to convert a pilot facility to a full-scale factory by 2011. The site is expected to produce at least 125 million bricks a year, using 250,000t of the waste.

A representative body for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, lime, mortar and silica sand industries has been established. The Mineral Products Association (MPA) is the result of a merger between the British Cement Association, the Quarry Products Association and The Concrete Centre.

A polymer lamination system for ventilated tile façades improves integrity as well as resistance to tearing, water and UV, say researchers in Spain. They add that the film is faster and cheaper to apply than using traditional wet-chemistry methods.