Sustainable development reported in triplicate

10 January, 2013

MPA confirms commitment to sustainable development by releasing three sustainable development reports

THE Mineral Products Association (MPA) and two of its constituent bodies, the British Lime Association (BLA) and the British Marine Aggregate Producers Association (BMAPA), have published their latest Sustainable Development (SD) Reports, which aim to further improve the quality and reporting of sustainability data to achieve more transparency and better communication of sustainability.

Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA, said: ‘Against the continuing difficult economic backdrop – which sees the industry now operating at the same market levels as in the mid 1960s – these reports demonstrate the industry’s continuing commitment to sustainable development, illustrate the progress we have made and set out the challenges we still face. Our aim is to rise to these challenges and deliver sustainable development.’

The MPA’s fourth SD Report highlights that the mineral products industry, with an annual turnover of £9 billion and supplying industries with a combined turnover of £400 billion, makes an essential contribution to national and local economies, the UK economy and its sustainability.

However, with the identifiable costs and burdens of environmental and planning regulation on the industry currently standing at around £400 million per annum, while supporting high operating and sustainability standards, the Association believes it is necessary to ensure that regulation to encourage sustainable development is reasonable, proportionate, consistent and effectively implemented.

Highlights from the MPA SD Report include:

Further improvements in industry health and safety supported by award-winning MPA initiatives.
New policy and initiative to improve the safety of vulnerable road users.
Continuing reductions in industry carbon emissions – cement emissions down 55% since 1990.
Increasing focus on the contribution concrete construction can make to reducing energy use and carbon emissions during the operational life of buildings.
Delivery of 20% of aggregates and 19% of cement by non-road modes.
29% of the GB aggregates market is supplied by recycled and secondary materials – more twice the European average.
40% of fuel used for cement manufacture comes from waste-derived sources.
Improving biodiversity and nature conservation remain key industry objectives, supported by broader liaison with conservation bodies.

The second SD Report from the British Lime Association incorporates data from the BLA’s three associate members, allowing a more accurate picture of lime production to be presented. Another significant development since the last report is the formulation of the Environment Agency’s Sector Plan, which incorporates the lime sector.

Highlights from the BLA SD Report (2005–2011 comparison) include:

Total CO2 emissions per tonne of high-calcium lime manufactured reduced by 11%.
SO2 emissions per tonne of high-calcium lime manufactured decreased by 78%.
SO2 emissions per tonne of dolomite manufactured decreased by 20%.
Point-source dust emissions per tonne of high-calcium lime manufactured decreased by 39%.
Point-source dust emissions per tonne of dolomite manufactured reduced by 77%.
Waste sent to landfill reduced by 94% per tonne of lime manufactured.
Waste-derived material made up 36% of combustion fuel used for dolomite production.
Environmental incidents reduced by 60%.

Highlights from the sixth BMAPA SD Report include:

The area of seabed licensed for dredging reduced by 1.3% to 1,274 square kilometres; while hours dredged increased by 13.2% to 18,841h.
Regional environmental assessments now completed in four regions in support of a licence-renewal programme.
While total CO2 emissions increased by 13.8%, emissions per tonne landed decreased by 3.8%.
BMAPA produced 14 electronic member alerts as part of an extensive health and safety programme.