Sustainable products

Tarmac has been developing and delivering sustainable products throughout our 100 year history. That's because we understand that creating sustainable products and services is about taking a whole-life approach. This means looking at a whole range of factors from;

reducing carbon emissions from the manufacturing process promoting our products' carbon effeciency to product durability
minimising water use in the manufacturing process
using recycled materials
minimising waste
responsible sourcing of materials

It also encompasses environmental and social impacts, safety, price for customers, minimising transport, and, of course, product quality.

So why does sustainability in our product performance matter to Tarmac?

Essentially, the materials we produce and the services we offer serve our collective economic and social needs to have things such as roads, schools, hospitals, homes as well as food, clean water and pharmaceuticals that are all important to our day-to-day lives. As the UK's number one producer of materials such as ready mixed concrete, asphalt, aggregates, cement and lime as well as the largest road contracting and highways maintenance company, we have a responsibility to make sure we make products and provide our services in the most sustainable way we can.

What is Tarmac doing to make our products more sustainable?

We ensure that our products are ethically and responsibly sourced and produced. This starts from raw materials, to the way they're made, the welfare and training of the people who make them, to delivery at a customers' site, and the actual use of the product and its potential re-use, product recycling and the final disposal at the end of its life.

We embed sustainability throughout our business and are focused on delivering consistently high quality products and services to our customers. It's also crucial that we provide clear and reliable advice and information to our customers to help them pick the right product for their project. We like to get it right first time and address sustainability challenges head on.

Sustainable product performance

We take a whole-life approach to sustainable products. This means looking at every detail of what we do, from quarrying materials to manufacture, delivery, installation and in-use performance. From a product development perspective, we focus on a range of factors, from reducing carbon footprint during manufacture, to maximising in-use carbon performance through thermal mass, minimising waste (both for us and our customers) and optimising the use of recycled materials.

But this is only the start of the process. We also provide customers with information, advice and expertise to help them to select the right products to improve their own sustainability performance, while meeting their expectations of high quality products and great service.

Whether porous roads, ultra-durable asphalt, high strength concrete, recycled asphalt, low carbon concrete or recycled blocks, we have sustainable products covered.

Responsible Sourcing

Making and supplying ethically and responsibly sourced products is a key focus for Tarmac. It's a central part of our sustainable products strategy.

Responsible sourcing means that we manage the environmental, social and economic impacts of our business and supply chain in a responsible way. It includes the purchase of materials from a responsible and ethical supply chain, our operations, the way we produce materials, health and safety, the way we treat and train our people and how we transport products to customers.

Through independent verification Tarmac has been accredited two major independent responsible sourcing certification schemes in the UK:

BES 6001
What is BES 6001? (new window)
Achilles Building Confidence
See more on Building Confidence on the Achilles website (new window)

We achieved BES 6001 at a 'very good' rating for Tarmac Aggregates and Tarmac Concrete.

Customers can be assured that they are using responsibly sourced products. Additionally where our aggregates and concretes are used in BREEAM schemes customers can achieve maximum points for these products.

BRE's BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing certificates

Product quality management

We are committed to delivering quality products by operating high standards throughout our business, understanding our customers' needs and using best practice quality management systems.

We have shared objectives across our business, and comply with BS EN ISO 9000 Quality Systems.

See below for BSI Certification documents: