Why doesn't Potclays have a system in place to accept clay bags for refilling?

Logistical Difficulties:

All our clays are bagged straight from the pug to optimise condition and shelf life. Stock availability of used bags would need to tie in with production scheduling for that particular clay type. This would be logistically difficult.

Resource Intensive:

With a recycling process like this there is high potential for cross-contamination and so bags must be spotless. To achieve this level of cleanliness the washing process would be very resource-intensive. In fact this potentially could use more resources (in terms of water use, drying etc.) than the user recycling the bags at a local facility. The majority of our customers are based outside of Stoke-on-Trent and so there is also the environmental impact of transporting the bags back to site rather than to a local recycling facility.

Quality Control:

There would need to be an appropriate quality control procedure to ensure returned bags are in good enough condition for reuse, free from holes and wear. Our current clay bags have been found to keep clay in good condition for many months and so the bag integrity is essential in order to preserve the clay condition.

Cost Inefficiencies:

The system would rely on a significant volume of returned bags arriving on site to justify capital investment for the washing & testing equipment along with additional labour needed.  This would potentially reduce output and necessarily increase the price of our clays for all users. At this point we feel that this is not a viable approach for such small volumes especially considering the alternative to recycle our clay bags locally.

Customer Expectations:

Our customers expect a high level of presentation from goods and sadly many will not accept used bags and, based solely on appearances, may believe that the material is old or has been badly stored.

Also see "Is Potclays’ packaging environmentally sustainable?"