Aggregate Industries receive BSI environment award

AGGREGATE Industries UK Ltd have been awarded the national British Standards Institution (BSI) award for ‘Most Innovative Organisation’ in recognition of their commitment to environmental management across their operational units and contracting divisions in the UK.

The awards were convened by the BSI last November to celebrate the tenth anniversary of ISO 14001, the international standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

Aggregate Industries were highlighted by the judges as an example of an organization that has reaped the rewards of implementing ISO 14001, both from a business and an environmental viewpoint. The company were also nominated in the ‘Best Large Organisation’ category.

Commenting on the award, Dr Miles Watkins, director of environmental and corporate social responsibility for Aggregate Industries, said: ‘We have been working on our EMS for 10 years and we are 90% certified to ISO 14001 in a business turning over approximately £1 billion. We believe this is unique for a business in our sector, and certainly for a company of our scale and geographical distribution.

‘Although the business has grown considerably through acquisition from a turnover of £600 million in 1997, we have been able to maintain almost universal ISO 14001 EMS certification with approximately 250 operational units and our contracting business now registered.’

Aggregate Industries say development and implementation of the company’s ISO 14001 EMS has been driven from board level right down the line to all factories and quarries, with annual reporting of sustainability performance in existence since 2000 and biodiversity being a major part of the company’s UK environmental programme.