Lafarge Tarmac help cement Commonwealth Fellowship
Leading building materials company and the EA deliver successful Commonwealth Fellowship Scheme
LAFARGE Tarmac were recently selected by the Environment Agency (EA) to take part in its prestigious Commonwealth Fellowship scheme, which aims to promote best practice and improve compliance across its network.
Held over four weeks, six fellows from Commonwealth countries Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, representing their respective country’s environmental regulator and cement industry, were invited to spend time learning about how the EA works with the cement industry in the UK.
The fellows then spent time with Lafarge Tarmac learning about the company’s pioneering environmental and sustainability initiatives as well as its operational management processes.
A further aim was to showcase how environmental performance can be improved by developing constructive working relationships between industry, regulators and local communities.
The fellows were split into three groups of two and hosted at different sites within the Lafarge Tarmac network (Aberthaw, Cauldon and Dunbar) by a specialist to discuss the business’s stakeholder tools and policies, management systems, community engagement activities and biodiversity restoration projects.
The programme culminated in a tour of the Imperial College carbon capture pilot plant in central London. The only facility of its kind in any academic institution in the world, the pilot plant (pictured) contains the latest in process control and instrumentation technology from engineering firm ABB.
The pilot plant aims to equip students with the practical skills needed for a career in industry and demonstrate best practice in capturing and storing CO2.
David Shenton, national environmental manager at Lafarge Cement UK, said: ‘The Commonwealth Fellowship Programme has given us a fantastic opportunity to share our experience in managing our environmental impact while bringing together regulators and industry.
‘We hope this will deliver tangible business and environmental benefits to the countries where these fellows live, while also enhancing our relationships here in the UK between all parties.
‘The carbon capture pilot plant demonstrates the investments being made by industry leaders and academia here in the UK which could potentially be replicated around the globe to the benefit of those in both the engineering and construction industries. Visiting the facility was an excellent way to end the highly successful programme.’
