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Inspiration |Our Sustainable Chinaware

Chinaware: The Sustainable Story

In creating Royal Collection Trust fine bone china we are proud to partner with traditional potteries based in Stoke-on-Trent, England - the original home of English fine bone china production. We have successfully supported this British industry for over 30 years and the traditional craftsmanship they use.

Pieces of fine bone china from our handcrafted collections over the past 30 years, handcrafted in the English Potteries, form part of our customers' much loved chinaware collections all over the world. Our collections are designed with longevity in mind, but we are also dedicated to continuously improving the production process to be kinder to our planet.

01

Reducing Energy Consumption

To minimise our impact on the environment we refined the design process to eliminate one of the firing rounds from the production cycle, reducing overall energy consumption and emissions by 25%. 

02

Recycling Spare Clay

Spare clay, otherwise known as clay offcuts, is recycled, reconstituted and re-filtered to be used another time and to reduce waste. This can either be offcuts from the plasticine process or emptied slip from the casting process. 

Recycling Moulds

All chinaware moulds have an average lifespan of around 40 to 50 fills. After this average number of uses the inner surface deteriorates and this affects the quality of the final product, meaning the mould needs to be replaced. However the unwanted moulds are not discarded - the plaster of Paris is crushed and developed into building materials like plaster boards and pressure cast tiles.

04

Recycling Glaze

Once the piece has been fired, it then goes through a glazing process to make the clay base waterproof and ready for use. The unused or over sprayed glaze is captured, recycled, and filtered so it can be reused on future pieces of chinaware.

05

Recycling Gold

You may know that many of our chinaware pieces are carefully finished with 22 carat gold, but did you know that the leftover gold is recycled? Any remaining gold is heated to an extremely high melting point and then reconstituted so that it can be used again. The gold-cleaning rags used during the gilding process are also collected so that the excess gold can be extracted and ensure that none is wasted. 

Crafting the Gift Box

The keepsake gift boxes our fine bone china is presented in. All of the boxes are hand crafted using recycled cardboard, in the United Kingdom and covered with paper ethically sourced from either FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification) regulated suppliers. 

Watch How The Chinaware is Made

Pour a cup of tea, settle in a cosy chair and take a moment to watch this short film explaining the traditional methods used to create our handcrafted fine bone china collections.