The company says that with a commitment to sustainability remaining at the heart of the business, it has made significant investment in developing its sustainable credentials, and this has paid dividends, particularly with waste and water consumption being cut by 92%and 88% respectively in the cement business, since reporting began in 2001.
The latest reports are said to also show major advances in the reduction of emissions to air; an increase in the amount of material being moved by rail; greater biodiversity in its landholdings and improvements in health and safety performance.
“Despite the economic downturn, and challenging conditions in the construction market in recent years, we have continued to invest in, and demonstrate our commitment to sustainability across our UK businesses. We’re proud to publish our latest Sustainability Reports for Cement and Aggregates & Concrete, which show the great strides we have made,” says Dyfrig James, president, Lafarge UK.
Report highlights show a 30% reduction in the CO2 emissions resulting from concrete production compared to figures recorded in 1990; production of readymix achieved a 16% reduction in CO2 emissions per tonne between 2010 and 2011; 9.65% improvement in fuel consumption of the vehicle fleet in under two years; 95% of all future plans for mining sites now have progressive restoration schedules in place and water usage at the County Leicestershire, England head office has been cut by 22%.
Other achievments include sustainable product development targets originally set for 2015 have been surpassed with the early launch of a bespoke lower CO2 concrete product and the roll-out of the premium grade recycled aggregate brand, Aggneo; maintenance of steady annual increase of recycled material substitution rates; all active quarries actively implemented cohesive CO2 emission measurement procedures; all sites are on track to achieve a 100% water footprint analysis by the end of 2012, and all contracting sites, which run for over six weeks, are now registered within the Considerate Contractors Scheme.
