Hanson Cement SUSTAINABILITY
CARBON FOCUS ON REDUCING
Andrew Simpson, packed products director at Hanson Cement on the company’s efforts to limit its production of carbon as far as possible
H
anson is committed to reducing carbon emissions at every stage of its business: from the manufacturing process through to how its products
are delivered to customers.
Packed products director Andrew Simpson says the company has invested in low emission and low carbon vehicles and give merchants the flexibility to choose which products – and how much of them – they order to help maximise stock efficiencies and sales. “Mixed product deliveries provide the ideal solution: these can be provided from our core lines, as well as base aggregates, and enable merchants to order a full load, minimising vehicle miles,” he says.
Packaging is another area where Hanson has made significant progress to reduce the amount of plastic and develop more sustainable options. Some of its heavy
building products, particularly those that contain aggregates with sharp edges, are harder to supply without plastic packaging and, where this is the case, it has increased the recycled contents of the bags while ensuring they are still 100% recyclable.
Simpson adds: “But, for other products, a strong paper alternative can be just as effective. Hanson’s Multicem, for example, is available in a Tough Bag, which contains 95 per cent less plastic and has been independently tested and proved to be the toughest paper cement bag in the market – 50% stronger than any other – meaning it is still highly resistant to splits and tears.” Hanson’s cement business is the source of more than 90% of its CO2 emissions, so is a key focus in the company’s decarbonisation plan. Around 70% of these emissions arise from the chemical reactions that take place during production and Hanson is actively working on a carbon capture and storage project at its Padeswood cement works in Flintshire that would remove these process emissions completely. The remaining CO2 is
November 2022 A supplement to builders merchants journal
from the fuels used to power the kilns and the company is working on several projects to switch from fossil fuels to carbon neutral sources, including hydrogen.
“Packed cement products themselves are also available in lower carbon options,” Simpson adds.”Choosing a CEM II cement – which contains a cement replacement product to replace up to 35% of the ordinary Portland cement content – for example can significantly reduce the embodied CO2 compared with a CEM I option.”Hanson includes Regen GGBS (ground granulated blastfurnace slag) as a replacement for some of the cement content in its bagged cement products. GGBS is a by-product of the iron making industry and its manufacture requires less than one third of the energy and produces less than 10% of the CO2 emissions of CEM I Portland Cement. As a result, using Regen reduces CO2 emissions, does not require the quarrying of new materials conserving natural resources for future generations, and prevents the slag used being disposed of as landfill. n
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