3. Rethink studio waste
Collect all clay washed down the sink in a settling tank, then recycle the slurry (as above). You can also re-use glazes: keep a separate bucket of water in the glazing area in which to wash hands, brushes, sieves and glazing tools. Leave this to settle overnight, pour off the water, then collect the settled glaze at the bottom. If you don’t separate the clay and glaze in this way, you will have a mixture of clay and glaze in the settling tank, which is more difficult to recycle. If you end up with a mixture, the fluxes in the glaze may cause the clay to warp and slump during firing.
4. Recycle excess glaze
Either wax the bottoms of pots to avoid glaze sticking, or scrape off glaze from the base using an old credit card, collect the scrapings and when you have enough, add to water and sieve. Overspray glaze from spray booths can also be collected (you will need to keep each glaze separate). Alternatively, you can collect all glaze scrapings together in one bucket, sieve and use as an ever-evolving mystery glaze, or add iron oxide to make a more consistent black glaze. If you must throw away glaze, leave it to dry out and dispose of the solids in landfill, rather than down the drain.