The quarry products industry today has a turnover of over £4 billion and accounts for 40,000 jobs, around half of which are directly related to production of aggregates in 1,300 quarries. In a typical year, the industry produces over 200 million tonnes of primary aggregates and some 65 million tonnes of recycled and secondary aggregates.

To truly appreciate the economic contribution made by the aggregates and quarry products industry you have to look at the myriad of downstream industries that it supports. In particular, it feeds essential materials to the construction sector, which makes a £100 billion contribution to the economy. It is also a vital contributor to local economies.

The following chapters describe our work under the pillar of social progress:

• Essential materials
• Employment