Our commitment and goals
We have long recognised the consequences of CO2 emissions and how both the manufacture of our products and their use in the built environment contribute to climate change.
We have worked closely with the Carbon Trust since 2005 and our company wide carbon management plan has identified areas for improvement and raises awareness of the need to change.
In the construction and building materials sector, we were the first company to declare publicly a target to reduce CO2 emissions. Our first target, set in 2004, of 12.5% CO2 per tonne of production by 2010 was achieved in 2006.
Following the publication of the Governments Strategy for Sustainable Construction we introduced a new target of 20% reduction of CO2 per tonne from a 2008 baseline, to be achieved by 2012.
In 2008 we also established a carbon steering group as a result of the security/supply issues surrounding traditional methods of fuelling our business.
Our own targets for CO2 reduction have been driven by a number of factors:
- Reducing the risk and exposure to unsustainable fossil fuels
- Reducing our embodied CO2 impact of our products
- Demand side efficiencies which improve plant operation and reduce breakdowns
- Monitoring the carbon data of the business allowing us to understand our CRCEES commitments which run into millions of pounds (this is seen as opportunity and risks as the CRC went from a money making scheme to a straight tax)
- An ambitious renewable energy programme to reduce carbon*
Our extensive land holdings are an attractive area for development for renewable energies, housing and commercial buildings and we are investigating the opportunities that exist.
*The 2011 budget introduced a carbon floor price and there is a risk that if the feed in tariff's are adjusted it may become less attractive to invest in renewable energies, we are very conscious of these risks.
View information on our carbon plan