Sustainable Construction

In use

This vitally important area is about how our products can improve sustainability during the in-use phase of a building or asset. Solutions include enhancing durability, reducing maintenance, using the thermal mass benefits of concrete to deliver substantial energy and carbon saving over its life, or developing permeable paving solutions for use in Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.

We also develop solutions for the end-of-life phase and use the concept of a circular economy to move away from the traditional ’take-make-dispose’ model to one where building components are kept in valuable use.

In support

As a solutions-focused business, Tarmac is committed to offering our customers support at every step of the construction process, ensuring sustainability features at both the design and build stages of works. By engaging with clients as early as possible, prior to project commencement, we can ensure that our expertise and services add genuine value where it matters, and that sustainability goes hand in hand with all other project priorities.

Low Carbon Asphalt Collaboration

Working with National Highways and other supply chain partners, Tarmac took part in a cutting-edge trial on the A64 to deliver one of the UK’s lowest ever carbon resurfacing schemes. The trial was the first of its kind on the strategic road network and was carried out on a 1.5 mile section of the A64 eastbound carriageway at junction 44 near Bramham in North Yorkshire.

Tarmac worked with National Highways to determine three key priorities for the scheme. Longer lasting, lower carbon & smoother roads.

A range of low carbon solutions were implemented to drive savings on the project, including the use of warm mix asphalt, the use of biogenic and long-life asphalt binders, incorporating recycled asphalt planings (RAP) into our material, and carrying out the work using electric plant and vehicles.

Other construction methods such as enhanced pavement life and a high performance, smooth pavement were used offering more sustainability benefits. This was achieved through continuous paving using an ‘echelon’ paving method, where asphalt is laid across the entire road surface, rather than in lanes. Tarmac’s Ultipave product with an increased PMB content will give a pavement life enhancement of 3 years in addition to a 20% extension from combining this with an innovative, long-life asphalt binder. It also requires less maintenance, reducing operational carbon in the longer term.

The trial successfully reduced carbon emissions on the project by 75 per cent compared to a traditional maintenance project of a similar scale, which represented a carbon saving of over 260 tonnes. The improvement in road smoothness, from improved paving techniques, is also expected to save 59tCO₂e within the first year after resurfacing.

Carbon Negative Aggregate

Redbridge Council in partnership with Kensons Highways have used a new type of asphalt for resurfacing works at Lodge Hill Road in Redbridge. The asphalt mix was supplied by Tarmac and significantly lowered the project’s carbon footprint by incorporating ACLA®, a carbon negative aggregate.

This carbon negative aggregate was also used in a trial with National Highways on a stretch of motorway as they continue to seek new and innovative solutions to reduce their carbon footprint. With the support of both Skanska and Tarmac, the trial took place on the northbound carriageway of the M11 in Essex, with the material incorporated into essential resurfacing and maintenance work. Here it will be subject to ‘real world’ levels of heavy traffic and will be routinely monitored by National Highways.

Circular Solution Aggregates

As we progress towards a Net Zero world, we need to make sustainable choices the default. In 2024, Tarmac launched Circular Solution Aggregates. CSAggs are a range of slag aggregates that reuse materials to maintain reserves of primary aggregates, avoid waste, and help construction achieve improved whole life outcomes and deliver on circularity ambitions.

Our CSAggs are quality controlled, manufactured aggregates which can be used in a range of construction applications – for example, their high abrasion and crushing resistance make them suitable for road applications or as a predictable and consistent fertiliser in agriculture.

CEVO

In late 2023 we launched our CEVO brand where Tarmac’s concrete mixes are graded by strength into a series of bands to meet customer requirements and make it easier for Tarmac customers to procure lower carbon concrete.

As an extension to our CEVO brand, in April 2024, Tarmac launched CEVO Digital, advanced AI-enhanced digital sensors that can help to optimise concrete mixes, lower carbon emissions, and reduce on-site construction time.

Partnering with Converge, a UK-based specialist in construction technology, Tarmac is offering market-wide access to the new innovative technology that combines sophisticated wireless sensors with predictive artificial intelligence (AI). The sensors gather real-time data that, when combined with the AI modelling, can predict concrete strength, ultimately speeding up construction projects and reducing carbon emissions.

Learn more about CEVO

PAS 2080

Throughout 2024, Tarmac worked to gain certification to PAS 2080, the internationally recognised specification for managing whole life carbon in the built environment. Certified as both a Product/Material Supplier and Constructor, this achievement demonstrates Tarmac’s continued commitment to advancing carbon reduction strategies and working together as an industry to support the transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

The certification process relied on collaboration with teams across the business to illustrate how we are working to reduce carbon across all our operations, on our projects, and through engagement with key stakeholders, suppliers, and customers. Tarmac demonstrated our ability to integrate carbon management into procurement, establish effective governance, and continuously improve our carbon performance.