Recycled cenosphere, which is a hollow shaped particle from fly ash, has become attractive as a building material due to its light weight and excellent heat insulation and soundproof properties. In this paper, we investigated the effect of cenosphere size on the physical and optical properties. High brightness of cenosphere as raw material is required for a wide range of ceramics applications, particularly in fields of building materials and industrial ceramic tiles. Cenospheres were sorted by particle size; the microstructure was analyzed according to the cenosphere size distribution. Cenospheres were generally composed of quartz, mullite, and amorphous phase. Colour measurement corresponding to chemical composition revealed that the contents of iron oxide and carbon in the cenospheres were the major factors determining the brightness of the cenospheres.