1 Feburary 2007

Commitment to Sustainable Development Increases with Launch of New Industry Report

The Quarry Products Association, which represents over 90% of the UK quarrying industry, has released its second Sustainable Development Report. Continuing the process that began with the launch of the QPA's Sustainable Development Strategy in 2005 and the publication of its first SD Report in 2006, this new update further assists the industry in understanding its footprint.

The Report features operational data from 2005 and marks an improvement in terms of industry coverage, with the results now accounting for 71% of primary aggregate production*. As such, it is the best indication yet of how sustainably the industry is operating across a range of indicators. However, the QPA will continue to raise the profile of the reporting process, with a view to further improving coverage.

Headlines from the latest report include:

• A 20% reduction in the number of reportable injuries between 2004 and 2005
• 25% of the GB aggregates market is supplied by recycled or secondary sources
• On-site energy use in the sector accounts for 0.52% of UK carbon emissions
• Per capita use of aggregates (primary, secondary and recycled) in GB is 4.7 tonnes annually, compared with the EU per capita volume of 7.1 tonnes
• Land quarried is equivalent to 0.12% of the land area of the UK
• The area of quarried land restored in the year exceeded that of land prepared for new quarrying
• The average road delivery distance for aggregates is 24 miles, with the average load amounting to 19 tonnes

The QPA is welcoming feedback on the new document, which will be circulated widely to industry stakeholders.

Commenting on the release of the latest SD Update, the QPA's Director General Simon van der Byl said: "I'm delighted that commitment to this reporting process is increasing amongst our membership, a clear indicator that the industry is keen to understand as fully as possible its sustainability footprint. This update report refines and builds upon the data we collected for our first report, and we are beginning to generate meaningful information for our industry, regulators and stakeholders."

The Second Sustainable Development Report is exclusively available as a PDF download, link to it here.

*2004 data in the First SD Report accounted for 64% of primary aggregate production.

ENDS

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