Environment Agency praises ‘green’ minerals sector
THE mineral industry’s environmental record has received praise from the Environment Agency in its Spotlight on Business document, published on 28 July.
The document, which Environment Agency chief executive Barbara Young describes as ‘the most complete picture yet of business environmental performance in England and Wales’, states that the minerals sector is the ‘best environmentally managed’ among British industry. The report goes on to highlight efforts to recycle, emphasizing that ‘under close regulation, [the minerals sector] uses about 230,000 tonnes of waste from other sectors’.
The Quarry Products Association has welcomed the recognition of its stringent environmental management. Director general Simon van der Byl said: ‘It’s encouraging to see that the Environment Agency is advocating what we have long maintained; that we are a responsible operator with strict environmental controls in place across our operations.
‘The Spotlight on Business document is an enormously significant and pubic admission from government that large, vitally important industries such as ours can still operate in an environmentally responsible way.’
