Transition to Net Zero

Taking Climate Act ion: NET ZERO

Our transition to

Climate action - our response

Decarbonising our business, and providing products, services and solutions that help society and the UK built environment mitigate the impacts of climate change is central to our commercial strategy and corporate purpose.

We have taken early action to drive decarbonisation across our business. Based on 1990 emissions levels up to our 2021 baseline, Tarmac has successfully reduced CO2 emissions by 37.% per tonne of product. We recognise that it is vital to stay agile, continually reviewing and evolving our progress, and in 2021 we launched Act, our new sustainability strategy that builds on our past achievements.

Act sets out our commitments, objectives and goals against three main themes: ‘People’, ‘Planet’ and ‘Solutions’. It includes our objective to be net zero by 2050

Here we set out our plan to achieve net zero so that our stakeholders can see the firm steps we are taking to support the UK’s net zero targets.

Click to read our annual sustainability report

Click to read our Act strategy

Our commitment is to be a net zero business by 2050

Climate targets

To drive our transition to net zero, our parent company, CRH, has set an ambitious, industry leading target to reduce absolute CO2 emissions across the business by 30% by 2030.

This target, from a 2021 baseline, is supported by a series of Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) validated targets.

The science based target defines how much and how quickly we need to reduce our CO2 emissions to be consistent with the goals of the international Paris Agreement.

Our targets are based on reducing our Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3

CO2 emissions:

SCOPE 1 are direct CO2 emissions from the sources we own or control – for example, from fuels used in our operations and vehicles

SCOPE 2 are CO2 emissions we create indirectly – for example, from the electricity we buy

SCOPE 3 are indirect CO2 emissions in our value chain – for example, from the goods we buy

Direct Emissions

SCOPE 1

CO2 emissions that arise from the use of fuels and raw materials

Indirect Emissions

SCOPE 2

CO2 emissions that arise from the generation of electricity we use

Indirect Emissions

SCOPE 3

CO2 emissions that arise from other business-related activities

Electricity purchased for own use

Delivery of goods/ services

Supply chain

Waste management

Business travel

Employee commuting Constituent materials

Fuel combustion to provide heat

Fuel used by on-site transport

Chemical reactions in production processes

Fuel for marine dredging

Our Net Zero Roadmap

Low carbon fuels

Strategic initiatives

Our Achievements up to our 2021 baseline

Mid-1990s

Successful pilot of alternative fuels at Dunbar cement plant including shredded tyres

2004

A new cement plant with associated rail loading facility built at Tunstead

2005

Meat and bone meal used in the Aberthaw cement kiln

2006

Tyres first used as an alternative fuel at Tunstead cement kiln

2010

Purchased all the renewable electricity produced by a wind farm in South Wales

Commissioned a new energy efficient lime kiln at Tunstead

2011

Launched Tarmac sustainability strategy

Applied for the first UK dual fuel permit to use waste tyres and solid recovered fuel simultaneously in cement manufacturing

2013

Aberthaw cement plant partnered with an energy company for the blending of waste residue ash in cements

2014

Successful trial of low temperature asphalt

2015

Tarmac’s second sustainability strategy released

First plant with high capacity cold Recycled Asphalt Planing technology at Harper Lane makes asphalt mixes with 55% recycled content

2018

First Tarmac Innovation Challenge

2019

Dunbar cement plant begins using solid recovered fuel

Purchasing all of our electricity from guaranteed clean sources

Collaborate with other companies in and around the Peak District to collectively find solutions to decarbonise the region

Switch over 60% of our asphalt plants from oil to lower carbon alternatives including natural gas and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas)

Over 9 million tonnes of product moved by rail per year - removing 450,000 lorry movements from roads

Use of materials such as GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag), fly ash and RAP (Recycled Asphalt Planings) in low carbon products

All three of our cement kilns using waste-derived fuels to replace part of the fossil fuel mix

Reusing over 7 million tonnes of waste from other industries as raw materials and fuels each year

Launched the decarbonisation club with 16 key suppliers to reduce our Scope 3 emissions

2021

Act Strategy launched

2022

SBTi target accepted

2023

Revised SBTi target validated

Strategic initiatives to 2030 and beyond

Delivering net zero is not a linear process but we forecast that the following technologies will play an important and active part in delivering our 2030 commitment.

Electricity

As one of the UK’s largest landowners, we are exploring

Electricity switching

We have signed up to the EV100 scheme and have committed to transition 100% of our company car and van fleet to electric before 2030

We are switching to mobile equipment that runs on 100% renewables or hybrid across our national road contracting activity

We will also electrify operational equipment where possible across all our sites

We are operating the first battery electric concrete mixer truck. In addition to zero tailpipe emissions, the mixer contributes to improving air quality in low/zero emission zones

We recognise that some of these technologies are more costly to deploy, so it’s important there is a market demand for lower carbon products and solutions.

Energy efficiency

Every site has an energy efficiency target and proactively undertakes an annual energy saving opportunities assessment

Through our cross business programme, Optimise and our ISO 50001 energy management system, we target energy and CO2 reduction through best practice operational control

Fuel switching and low carbon manufacturing

We are actively fuel switching to reduce CO2 across our product portfolio and manufacturing sites

Asphalt

We have made warm mix asphalt (WMA) the default product for customers instead of hot mix asphalt (HMA), lowering the CO2 of asphalt by up to 12%

We have supplied over 4 million tonnes of warm mix asphalt since 2012, with savings of up to 21,000 tonnes of CO2 per year

We are investigating the potential use of bio-binders to partially replace bitumen and achieve CO2 reductions as well as polymermodified bitumen to deliver longer lasting durability

Cement

We have invested in a new chlorine bypass that allows our kiln to use up to 70% waste derived fuels

Low carbon fuels Mobile plant

We are deploying HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) as a transition fuel until battery, electric or hydrogen alternatives are available at suitable Tarmac sites

Rail

We have trialled HVO as the fuel for delivery of construction materials along a key strategic rail route operating from quarries to asphalt plants

Product Design Cement

We are reducing the amount of CO2-intensive clinker in cement and concrete by developing new products including Portland limestone cement (PLC) and cements that include calcined clay

Concrete

We are further optimising the use of cementitious materials like Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag, fly ash and limestone in concrete mixes

We are developing our range of low carbon concretes, including the development of AACMs (Alkali Activated Cementitious Materials)

Recycling

We optimise the use of recycled materials and provide advice on the lowest CO2 material options for every project.

We use over 1 million tonnes of RAP in new asphalt and are seeking to increase this further

2030-2050 Future enablers

Tarmac has a clear understanding of the technologies needed to achieve net zero but, like many businesses and industries we cannot deliver net zero in isolation. It will take a combination of many technologies and actions working together to achieve net zero across our business and value chain.

Wearerealisingthepossibilities of new technologies withtrialsandproofofconceptprojects

We completed breakthrough trials using hydrogen in our lime kilns in Buxton, producing the world's first "hydrogen-fired lime" and creating the potential for future conversion to zero carbon fuel. Hydrogen is also the fuel of choice for an ambitious project to produce zero-carbon lime via new kiln technology.

Tarmac is a partner in LEILAC, (Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement), a European Union Horizon 2020 project. LEILAC involves developing a breakthrough calciner that can directly separate and capture 95% of the CO2 released from limestone during calcination.

Our feasibility study as part of fuel-switching trials has investigated the use of plasma (electrical) energy to heat the cement calciner with the potential to achieve high temperature low carbon heat.

Netzerologistics

Policy enablers

The task of deeper decarbonisation becomes more challenging and more complex as businesses make progress. Consistent government policy with predictable financial support mechanisms will be needed to enable long term decision making.

Underpinning this is the need for aligned investment in the infrastructure that businesses require to enable the decarbonisation of manufacturing processes and along their value chain. This includes, for example, decarbonised transport, decarbonised electricity and energy, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and infrastructure for CO2 transport.

We will continue to work with UK and devolved governments and industry to build a shared understanding and pathway to net zero, one where policy, financial and infrastructure enablers are coordinated to support industry decarbonisation and to deliver a viable transition.

A whole life approach

We are committed to delivering value to our customers and clients through the application of our four 'ins' model. This is helping them to identify and develop carbon reduction opportunities through a whole lifecycle approach which supports the development of a more sustainable built environment.

Act ing together

Tarmac is working with customers, suppliers and all stakeholders

Tarmac is committed to helping customers drive decarbonisation across UK construction and infrastructure projects.

Early engagement and collaboration are vital. We work in partnership with contractors and clients to unlock carbon savings by helping them to make informed material choices and to best understand product carbon footprints when making low carbon design decisions.

We are:

Helping customers understand the environmental impacts of their materials with carbon footprints across our product portfolio

Collaborating with 800 members of our supply chain and over 200 companies at our 2021 and 2022 supplier sustainability weeks

Educating and assisting our top suppliers with calculating their Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions in order to create and manage our own database of Scope 3 emissions

Developing concepts from our Innovation Challenge submitted by suppliers to reduce carbon emissions

Delivering net zero logistics by evaluating push factors (emissions regulatons, customer requirements) and pull factors (operational and commercial viability of new technologies)

Engaging on the development of UK industry standards to include lower carbon cements and alternative binders, enabling formal documentation of their suitability and environmental performance

Playing an active part in the low carbon industrial clusters for the North West (Hynet), South Wales (SWIC) and Scotland (Acorn, Grangemouth, NECCUS)

We recognise net zero is a collaborative commitment and are open to exploring opportunities to trial, develop, and deliver the progress demanded by this global opportunity.

Let’s

Act together.

At Tarmac we are challenging every aspect of our business to advance our decarbonisation.

Tarmac 2030 Carbon Reduction Initiatives Summary

100% Renewable Electricity

All of our purchased electricity is from guaranteed renewable sources

Electricity Switching

We are electrifying operational equipment where possible

30% absolute reduction by 2030

Energy Efficiency

All our sites have energy efficiency targets

Lower Energy Manufacturing And Fuel Switching

We are fuel switching to reduce CO2 across the product portfolio and manufacturing sites

Increased Recycling

We aim to optimise the use of recycled materials within our products

EV cars and vans

We have pledged to transition 100% of our company car and van fleet to electric before 2030

Product Design

We are reducing the amount of CO2intensive clinker in cement and concrete