Aggregate Industries offers full support to parent company in its commitment to Net Zero pledge
REFLECTING their commitment to taking concrete action on climate change, LafargeHolcim, the parent company behind Aggregate Industries, have become the world’s first building materials supplier to commit to hitting net zero emissions by 2050.
The recent announcement sees LafargeHolcim become the first company of their kind to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a scheme that determines how much and how quickly firms must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Under SBTi’s ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’, LafargeHolcim have committed to speeding up the reduction in CO2 intensity per tonne of cementitious materials by 2030. To achieve this, the company, which operates in more than 90 countries, is working with SBTi to develop a roadmap for helping the global cement sector hit the 1.5°C target – the temperature at which irreversible damage due to climate change can be avoided.
This includes spearheading a number of initiatives that will be rolled out across the company’s UK business, Aggregate Industries, such as recycling 100 million tonnes of waste and by-products for energy and raw materials, and accelerating the use of low-carbon and carbon-neutral products.
The announcement comes as last year the UK became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to become Net Zero by 2050. Committed to supporting this ambition and that of their parent company, Aggregate Industries say they will continue to reduce their CO2 emissions and lead the way on sustainability.
Recent years have seen the firm achieve notable milestones in this area such as becoming the first company to be certified to BES 6001, The Framework Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products, developed by the BRE. They were also the first construction materials supplier to achieve the BSI PAS 2080 verification for their commitment to supply low-carbon solutions to infrastructure projects. Aggregate Industries currently purchase the entirety of their electrical grid demand from 100% renewable sources.
Guy Edwards, chief executive officer at Aggregate Industries UK, said: ‘We’re proud to be part of the LafargeHolcim Group as it makes the bold and ambitious pledge to go Net Zero by 2050. By being the first building materials supplier in the world to sign up to the SBTi’s ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ demonstrates our genuine desire to achieve real and lasting change in protecting the environment.
‘In our capacity as one of the UK’s leading construction materials suppliers, we fully support LafargeHolcim’s pledge and accelerating the use of low-carbon and carbon-neutral products is just one of the initiatives we’re currently working on to help create a greener construction industry.’
