Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Report published

2015 report summarizes performance from 2008 to 2014 across a range of indictors

THE 2015 Concrete Industry Sustainability Performance Report, covering 2014 performance data, has been published by MPA The Concrete Centre on behalf of the Sustainable Concrete Forum.

Launched at the recent Ecobuild industry trade show, the 8th annual report (see PDF attachment below) provides an update and detailed record of progress against the strategic objectives and commitments. It summarises performance from 2008 to 2014 across a range of indicators.

The report covers findings in five key areas:

• Action on materials, containing findings showing that in 2014 around 28% of all aggregates in Great Britain were recycled or secondary, far above levels elsewhere in Europe.
• Action on carbon figures, which indicate that the energy-intensity figure for 2014 for the rolling mix is 133.9 kWh/tonne and the figure for concrete and reinforcement is 156.1 kWh/tonne.
• Action on waste, which shows that during 2014 the industry achieved further improvement in performance with a value of 1.0kg of waste to landfill per tonne of concrete produced – an 80% reduction from the 2008 baseline.
• Action on biodiversity, with MPA data showing that over 6,000ha of priority habitat has been created to date on restored sites; and a further 6,000ha of priority habitat is committed to in restoration plans.
• Action on well-being, with MPA figures showing that the reportable injury frequency rate for 2014 was 326 per 100,000 direct employees – a 59% reduction from the 2008 baseline.

Overall, in the seven years since the industry published its first report there has been an 11% improvement in energy efficiency and a 13% reduction in carbon intensity in relation to concrete and materials production.

The report also sets out strategy commitments for 2020, which reinforces the industry’s commitment to taking a dynamic role in delivering a sustainable, low-carbon built environment in a socially, environmentally and economically responsible manner.

The strategy includes promises to contribute to the delivery of a low-carbon built environment; provide Life Cycle Assessment data compliant with codes and standards; develop a Material and Resource Efficiency Programme to inform best practice a cross the life cycle of concrete in the built environment; develop a low-carbon freight initiative to support improvement in transport through the concrete supply chain to construction sites; develop a water strategy to support the measurement of sustainability performance and target setting; and target continuous improvement of sustainable production performance and report annually.

Commenting on the report, Andy Spencer, chair of the Sustainable Concrete Forum said: ‘This eighth report presents the concrete industry sustainability performance, providing stakeholders with transparent data to show the journey and progress to delivering our 2020 commitments.

‘As well as the indicators within the report, the Forum is also looking ahead to ensure that the industry is at the forefront of thinking on how the circular economy can be applied to long service life products such as buildings and infrastructure.

‘We are working with stakeholders on how the industry assesses its impacts and benefits with regard to natural capital, and during the coming years we will be developing the strategy beyond the current 2020 horizon.’

You can download a copy of the report here.