Cauldon Cement PLant

Cauldon cement plant is located between the villages of Cauldon and Waterhouses in Staffordshire and was the UK’s first dry process cement manufacturing plant. The plant has been in operation since 1957 and facilitates the following:

Capacity to produce up to 1 million tonnes of cement per annum
The annual extraction of over 1 million tonnes of carboniferous limestone and 220,000 tonnes of shale from neighbouring quarries for use in the cement making process
125 directly employed staff and 30 indirectly employed
In 2021/22 £13m was invested in the alternative fuels facility. This facility will reduce annual CO2 emissions by up to 30,000 tonnes.

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Emissions

All emissions are continuously monitored to show they are at safe levels. Our performance can be viewed by searching the Public Register held by the Environment Agency .

Lower Co2 Commitment

Cauldon meets over 40% of its heat requirement from alternative fuels which helps lower our CO2 emissions and contributes towards a circular economy.

Use of alternative fuels

There is a strict Code of Practice (CoP) set out by the Environment Agency enabling us to use alternative fuels. In the CoP there are 101 different waste types that can be used in cement kilns as non-fossil fuels, in reality we only use five different types of waste.

Water Reduction

At Cauldon we’ve used an exhausted shale quarry to provide water for the cement production process. This means that we no longer draw freshwater from the nearby River Hamps which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a EU Special Area of Conservation.

Sustainability Strategy

In April 2022 we launched our Sustainability Strategy, which sets out our commitment “TO BE A UK LEADER OF INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE BUILDING SOLUTIONS”. To achieve this the strategy is structured around five pillars, of which four are explained in greater detail below. More detail on the strategy, including the fifth pillar “Sustainable Products” can be found within the strategy document here:

People and communities

Our People- Health & Safety, combined with positive mental wellbeing is deeply rooted into the company's culture. We are committed to ensuring that we have an inclusive working environment at our Cauldon site where everyone is welcomed.

Local Communities- We value the ongoing partnership we hold within our communities and the trust and respect it holds. We have a Community Liaison Committee (CLC) which meets on a quarterly basis. The CLC is constituted of local stakeholders and regulatory representatives and acts as a critical friend to the plant.

Volunteering and Donations- In 2022 we provided over £7,500 to local projects which included support for Cauldon Low Play Area and the Whiston Recreation Ground Project . If you live within 10 miles of the plant and have a community project that you think we should consider providing funding for please contact us via the “Get in touch” Section at the bottom of this page.

Educational visits and Open days- We support educational visits from local schools including tours of the plant. In 2022 we opened our doors and welcomed our local communities to our first open day since the start of lockdown. We will continue to develop new open day ideas in the coming years.

Climate

It is now widely accepted that climate change is happening and as a result the world is facing significant global challenges. Extreme weather events, like heat waves, storms and droughts, are already more intense and more present in our lives. It is for this reason that Aggregate Industries is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions before 2050.

The construction industry accounts for around 40% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions and we have a significant role to play in reducing this contribution. We are reviewing every aspect of the way we do business and we will innovate to eliminate CO2 from the manufacture of our products and we will support our customers by providing low carbon construction materials.

As our cement business accounts for around 70% of our emissions, we have an ambitious decarbonisation roadmap in place for this area with further details to be announced in due course.

Nature and Environment

Aggregate Industries has over 200 sites across the UK and as such we are well-placed to make a positive contribution to UK biodiversity through ongoing site management and wildlife focused restoration schemes. Active quarries, non-operational land around our sites, restored land and mothballed sites often provide a more diverse habitat and support a wider range of species than surrounding agricultural or residential land. Specifically at the cement plant we mentioned earlier that we no longer draw freshwater from the River Hamps, which is an area that has been labelled as a UK Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation, as well as an EU Special Area of Conservation. Material from the neighbouring Cauldon Low Quarry was also recently used to help rebuild a dry stone bridge at Thorswood Nature Reserve as part of a wider Staffordshire Wildlife Trust project. See our timelapse video showing the build

Circular Environment

In the UK, the population is rising and the requirement for new infrastructure development is increasing. We have a pivotal role to play in meeting society’s needs whilst minimising the demand on the world’s natural resources. This is why we are adopting a circular economy approach across everything we do, ensuring that we improve resource efficiency through reuse, recovery and/or recycling of waste materials in our production processes.

We plan to significantly advance our Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) recycling and processing. We recycle CDW and use it as a source of materials for green building products and we are currently looking at ways in which we can use CDW within the cement division.

Future Developments

Renewable Energy

Currently, all of the electricity that we source is zero-carbon nuclear energy, but we also want to play our part in supporting the UK’s drive for a cleaner future by developing renewable energy systems across our estate. Cauldon is currently one of the sites we are considering installing onsite renewable energy and we are currently assessing what this might look like. Please be assured that any plans would include significant community engagement.

Carbon Capture

To address the issue of process CO2 – those emissions which are inherent in the cement production process and cannot be avoided – we are investigating a range of carbon capture technologies which could be adopted at our Cauldon cement plant. To meet our target introduction date for this technology in 2030, we will need to have completed our feasibility studies by 2025. As with any renewable energy plans, this will include significant community engagement and consultation as they develop.

Want to know more?

This page has been designed to provide a high-level overview of Cauldon Cement Plant. To supplement this, we have also developed a more detailed document which provides much greater detail about the plant. Should you wish to view this, it can be requested by emailing community@aggregate.com.

Get in Touch

Key contacts for community liaison are:

Thierry Davila- Plant Manager- Cauldon

Carl Greenwood- Quarries Manager c arl.greenwood@aggregate.com

0748 493 5345

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Cauldon Cement PLant

Sustainability Strategy

Future Developments

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