Concrete Industry Sustainability Strategy

As a part of the Concrete Industry Sustainable Construction Strategy, MPA Precast and MPA Masonry are proud to be committed to the strategy’s vision and objectives.

MPA Precast and MPA Masonry are founder members of the UK Concrete sustainability initiative. We are pleased to have worked in partnership with WRAP and other concrete sector leaders to launch Resource Efficiency Plans in 2013 in order to improve long-term performance and meet the concrete industry’s sustainability objectives. In 2020, and as part of the concrete and cement sector, we became one of the first construction product sectors in the UK to commit to Net Zero Carbon future and commit to a sector roadmap to become net negative by 2050, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than we emit each year.

We were one of the first construction product sectors to develop a sustainability thinking approach and continue to be dedicated to ensuring that our industry is more efficient, effective and responsible in its operations. The Precast Sustainability Strategy and Charter were first introduced in 2007.  In 2014, as part of our 'Raising the Bar' initiative, all full member companies of MPA Precast  and MPA Masonry signed the Precast Sustainability Charter. In 2013, Raising the Bar was shortlisted for the ClimateWeek Awards, Best Sustainability Campaign Category.

The scheme has proved to be a major motivator for the precast industry, with many manufacturers introducing measures to reduce energy consumption, eliminate waste and implement environmental and sustainable management systems. We are in the process of introducing a new set of targets to 2030, targeting further reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The precast sector is also in the process of adopting the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap.

In 2015, MPA Precast became the first construction product sector to commit to the Infrastructure Carbon Review Commitment.

This scheme is proving to be a major motivator for the precast industry, with many manufacturers introducing measures to reduce energy consumption, eliminate waste and implement environmental and sustainable management systems. We have now approved a new set of targets for 2020 targeting energy, carbon, quality management and Responsible Sourcing systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, BES6001), water use reduction, waste reduction and H&S training. The new targets are aligned to the Sustainable Concrete industry Strategy targets and the construction industry Low Carbon Routemap to 2050.

In August 2013, we published the Precast Resource Efficiency Action Plan (REAP) which we will use to address sustainability across the supply chain of precast concrete products.