CASE STUDY: SUSTAINABILITY CLOSING THE LOOP I
f a measure of the success of a particular change is that customers really don’t notice, then Travis Perkins and Day Aggregates’ most recent collaboration could be said to be a winner.
The builders’ merchant and the aggregates supplier collaborated earlier this year on an initiative which saw MOT Type 1 made from traditional Type 1 quarried material, combined with up to 30% of Day Aggregates Ecoblend supplied into the builders’ merchant market through 160 of Travis Perkins branches in the south-east and south west.
Ecoblend is a mixed sub-base aggregate featuring both quarried and high-quality recycled materials, including recycled asphalt and crushed concrete, created from locally sourced construction and demolition waste, which would otherwise end-up in landfill. Which comes at a cost. As does extracting the aggregates in the first place. So, while using nothing but recycled material would provide a cost benefit, as John Duffy, senior category manager - aggregates, blocks & cement - at Travis Perkins, points out, the product still has to be fit for purpose. Day Aggregates director Jonathan Day says that while the company has produced both a 100% quarried primary product, and its Ecoblend recycled product for a while, this is a first for the builders merchant sector. “This particular product is MOT Type 1 made from traditional Type 1 quarried material, combined with up to 30% of Ecoblend, to give a fully compliant, consistent material. The relationship that we had with Travis Perkins meant that we could have the conversation, and work together to find a solution which would satisfy all John’s customers’ requirements.”
A trial was set up across certain Travis Perkins branches across the south and south-west, and Duffy says to highlight the difference, the company used black bulk bags, with a monochrome Travis Perkins logo. “Our standard bulk bags are easily recognisable – they’re the eye-catching Travis Perkins’ green and gold branding. But we
28 ON RECYCLED AGGREGATES
Fiona Russell Horne talks recycled aggregates, reducing waste and conserving resources with Travis Perkins and Day Aggregates.
which explained what was in the bag, and why. It explained that new mineral reserves are depleting around the UK, that demand for construction aggregates continues to outstrip new permitted reserves, placing unprecedented pressure on future availability and the current supply chain.
“We had 162 clicks through to that page out of 25,000 bags,” Duffy explains. “At first that might sound like it doesn’t tell us anything. But it does. We really didn’t have any pushback. What those numbers tell us is that, by and large, our customers have no strong feelings about whether the product is 10% recycled, 50% recycled or 100% primary, as long as they are buying quality materials from a trusted source. Which, in this case, is us.”
He adds that, it’s essential for the company to have the confidence in the product being sold, and the knowledge that it is fit for purpose.
Above: John Duffy from Travis Perkins and Jonathan Day from Day Aggregates
wanted to show customers that this was a different product. The bag itself is made of 50% certified recycled polymer, further enhancing the overall sustainability of the product.”
Black is used for a lot of packaging that uses recycled material, he says, because it’s the cheapest, easiest way to ensure consistency of colour.
The initial 25,000 bags all sold within weeks of the trial launching. Each bag featured a label stating: ‘Do you want to know why this bag’s black and not green? If so, click here’. A QR code then took users to a landing page on the Travis Perkins website
“This could never have been a purely commercial decision, to see if we could save a bit of money,” Duffy explains. “As it was a trial, we weren’t approaching it through that lens anyway. But we took it through our QA team as well, just to make sure. We knew it was the right road to be going down in terms of our sustainability aims. But we had to make absolutely sure that the product still did what our customers required it to do. We didn’t want anything to blow back on our brand.”
The upshot of the trial is that the product will continue to be sold through Travis Perkins branches where logistically appropriate, though the bags it comes in will revert to the more traditional green and gold. The issue, Day adds, is not going to go away. The need to use recycled materials will continue to increase. “It will never fully replace quarried materials, just because of the pure volume of what’s needed. But the more recycled material that can be channelled into construction, the better. Because this is also about landfill avoidance, about the circular economy and reducing as far as possible, the supply chain’s carbon footprint.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2026
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