The report highlights significant progress across all five pillars outlined in the manufacturer’s strategy (climate; people and communities; nature and environment; circular economy; and sustainable solutions), with each having been developed specifically to facilitate the business’ transition to a net zero and circular economy and a nature-positive future.

With innovation and sustainability at its core, the strategy has already yielded remarkable achievements within its inaugural year and further solidified Aggregate Industries’ commitment to driving positive change.

Key achievements include:

Climate
▪ Scope 1 net CO2 emissions decreased by over 5% to 557.7kg/T of cementitious
▪ Scopes 1 and 2 carbon intensity CO2 emissions reduced by almost 29%
▪ Comprehensive ‘Net-Zero Strategy' developed, mapping out how we will achieve net zero by 2050 for all business divisions

Nature & Environment
▪ Implementation of biodiversity management plans for 100% of the company’s quarries
▪ Initiatives launched to reduce freshwater withdrawal intensity across the business
▪ Establishment of a robust nature strategy to support ongoing nature-positive endeavours, with a ‘Place for Nature’ introduced to five sites

Circular Economy
▪ Notable progress in maximising reuse and recycling, with year-on-year landfill avoidance improvement from 90.2% to 93.6%
▪ Schemes progressed to increase use of Construction and Demolition Materials (CDM)
▪ 994,000T of Recycled Asphalt Planings (RAP) delivered

People & Communities
▪ A total of 38 new apprentices joined the business in a variety of operational and non-operational roles
▪ Year-on-year increases seen across female representation and leadership
▪ Active encouragement of colleague volunteering time, with a total of 1,700 hours given to good causes

Sustainable Solutions
▪ Total revenue from sustainable products grew to 31.4%
▪ Launch of multiple sustainable and low carbon products and solutions, including ECOPact Prime AS, AGGNEO, FOAMIX and SuperLow-Carbon
▪ Genesis of Your Carbon Report, an industry first, providing customers with accurate embodied carbon data from across the company’s product ranges

Kirstin McCarthy, Sustainability Director for Aggregate Industries, commented: “Through our sustainability strategy, we set out to become the UK leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions. We’re proud to be able to report some important milestones in just the first 12 months – and there will be no slowing down.

"Having recently published our net-zero strategy, we have a clear roadmap to decarbonise our operations across the business at pace and to achieve net zero before 2050. With incredible innovations coming out of our team, I’m personally excited for the remainder of 2023.”

Reflecting on the achievements of the past year, company CEO Dragan Maksimovic said: "Building progress is as much about today as it is about the future. That’s why we are thrilled to celebrate the progress we have made within the first year of our sustainability strategy. Our commitment to our five pillars is unwavering and the achievements we have seen across each of them are a testament to the remarkable work and dedication of our employees. We will continue to forge ahead to hit our 2025 goals and we remain resolute in our pursuit of embedding sustainability within construction."

Aggregate Industries is committed to ongoing monitoring, evaluation and transparency regarding its sustainability efforts. Under Kirstin McCarthy’s leadership, her team will continue to report on its progress whilst engaging with stakeholders and fostering partnerships which support its mission to create a more sustainable construction industry.

To learn more about Aggregate Industries' Sustainability Strategy and its commitment to sustainability, please visit the sustainability pages.