Ringway launch carbon labelling project
HIGHWAY engineers will soon know the exact carbon credentials of the products and materials they specify in road schemes, thanks to a carbon labelling project that has been launched by highway services provider Ringway.
Ringway are working with the Carbon Label Company (CLC), a subsidiary of the Carbon Trust, to calibrate the embedded carbon impact through the life-cycle of the company’s entire product range.
Carbon labelling requires a detailed analysis for every element that makes up a finished product and the collaboration with CLC is designed to produce a rigorous, consistent and a clear label for each of Ringway’s highway maintenance solutions, including standard materials and innovative surfacing systems.
‘Much as we can see at a glance in a sales showroom how efficient each electrical appliance is, highway engineers will, in the not-too-distant future, be able to quickly and confidently gauge the carbon impact of their choice of materials for our networks,’ said Chris Plant, group sustainability manager for Ringway.
‘It’s an enormous project involving a big investment of resources and time in software, training, data collection and rigorous analysis, but an accurate and transparent system, fully assessed and externally verified, for labelling the carbon footprint of our products will be a valuable tool for us a company and for customers committed to a low-carbon future.’
The project – which has the backing of the Ringway Client Forum – is one of a series of initiatives now being directed by the company’s Low Carbon Steering Committee. These include the development of new low-carbon products and services – such as Ringway’s Tempera warm asphalt, Ecolvia cold-mix asphaltic concrete and Foambase cold-recycling solution – and investment in carbon reduction.
This year will see Ringway Roadstone invest around £450,000 in capital projects designed to shrink the division’s carbon footprint and boost the efficiency of the its three wholly owned asphalt plants. In 2009 the division achieved energy-efficiency savings of a similar magnitude through new equipment, better calibration, improved programming, warm asphalt and alternative fuels.
Ringway are working with the Carbon Label Company (CLC), a subsidiary of the Carbon Trust, to calibrate the embedded carbon impact through the life-cycle of the company’s entire product range.
Carbon labelling requires a detailed analysis for every element that makes up a finished product and the collaboration with CLC is designed to produce a rigorous, consistent and a clear label for each of Ringway’s highway maintenance solutions, including standard materials and innovative surfacing systems.
‘Much as we can see at a glance in a sales showroom how efficient each electrical appliance is, highway engineers will, in the not-too-distant future, be able to quickly and confidently gauge the carbon impact of their choice of materials for our networks,’ said Chris Plant, group sustainability manager for Ringway.
‘It’s an enormous project involving a big investment of resources and time in software, training, data collection and rigorous analysis, but an accurate and transparent system, fully assessed and externally verified, for labelling the carbon footprint of our products will be a valuable tool for us a company and for customers committed to a low-carbon future.’
The project – which has the backing of the Ringway Client Forum – is one of a series of initiatives now being directed by the company’s Low Carbon Steering Committee. These include the development of new low-carbon products and services – such as Ringway’s Tempera warm asphalt, Ecolvia cold-mix asphaltic concrete and Foambase cold-recycling solution – and investment in carbon reduction.
This year will see Ringway Roadstone invest around £450,000 in capital projects designed to shrink the division’s carbon footprint and boost the efficiency of the its three wholly owned asphalt plants. In 2009 the division achieved energy-efficiency savings of a similar magnitude through new equipment, better calibration, improved programming, warm asphalt and alternative fuels.
