Environmental Stewardship
Objective
Achieve net positive environmental outcomes
Goals
Operate to the highest standard of environmental management and control
Achieve biodiversity net gain and contribute to national biodiversity and land management strategies
Build collaborative partnerships and support academic research to enhance the environment and cultural heritage
“The abundance of wildlife at Panshanger demonstrates the ability to responsibly quarry and restore an area to create an asset which brings a variety of benefits to flora, fauna and the wider public.”
Michael Charlton, Mineral Estates Manager
The natural environment is one of the UK’s most valuable assets and helps to define us as a nation. We rely on our blue and green spaces for food, water, and the air we breathe. A healthy environment is vital for mental and physical well-being, economic prosperity, and our communities.
Highlights
Environmental management
Tarmac has a robust Environmental Management System (EMS) in place to help manage the environmental impacts of our activities and operates to the highest standards of environmental management and control. Our EMS and the site procedures it contains are central to our approach, with over 300 operational sites certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems Standard.
Continuous improvement is fundamental to an effective EMS, and we constantly look for ways to improve our environmental performance and how we report on it.
Air quality
It is important that we take steps to ensure our business has a negligible impact on air quality, and that we continue to reduce emissions where possible.
Tarmac’s cement operations use best available technology (BAT) to abate and minimise emissions into the atmosphere. We monitor our emissions using our Environmental Management System, and our performance is overseen by the environmental regulators across the UK.
Restoring our Sites
At Tarmac, we pride ourselves on creating end of life solutions for sites that are no longer in use. Last year, we completed a 20-year restoration project in Scorton, which turned the quarry into a nature reserve. The 400-acre scheme created wetlands, 50 acres of new parkland, 34 acres of woodland, and three acres of fringe reedbeds, as well as extensive public access.
Our Broom Quarry restoration project in Bedfordshire involved the creation of 83 hectares of UK Priority Habitats – habitats considered as threatened in the UK. This positive impact will continue with the creation of an additional 71.6 hectares of wildlife habitats. The site has been progressively restored to a mix of agriculture, wetlands, woodland, and lakes.
For our Mountsorrel quarry we work closely with Leicestershire County Council, Natural England and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust to review our progress each year. We completed a restoration project at part of the site in 2022, and continued the work here throughout 2023, with the hope of being able to make it a place the local community can enjoy.
Enhancing and Restoring Biodiversity
We have over 60,000 acres of land under our stewardship and over 85 sites designated as having high biodiversity value. Tarmac recognises its duty to manage these assets responsibly and facilitate positive outcomes for its business, the community, and future generations.
One of our main goals is to achieve biodiversity net gain at our sites and contribute to national biodiversity. In 2023, we planted over 31,000 trees, which included the completion of the ‘Queens Wood’ at Panshanger, this is over 12,000 more trees planted than in 2022. All our extractive sites have restoration plans and over 135 sites have biodiversity management plans to ensure we are protecting and enhancing biodiversity.
Panshanger Park in Hertfordshire, a former quarry site, was restored to a stunning country park with several wetland areas and habitats. The restoration of the quarry workings provided the opportunity to increase and enhance the wetland habitats throughout the valley floor, with high priority habitats created which included 780 metres of chalk river, seven hectares of fen and wet grassland, and eight hectares of eutrophic standing water such as ponds and lakes. These provide great habitats for biodiversity across the park. The park opened to the public in 2014 and in 2023 it hosted several events, including guided walks along the dragonfly trail.
Wildlife conservation
Preserving wildlife and wildlife habitats is a priority within our environmental stewardship goals. We continue to invest in projects that can support all species.
In 2023, a rare species of beetle was identified at Panshanger Park in what was a first for Hertfordshire. We worked with Natural England and commissioned EMEC Ecology to carry out the independent survey of Saproxylic Coleoptera – beetles which rely on dead or decaying wood – at the Panshanger Park site as part of efforts to further enhance the site’s potential for wildlife.
Panshanger Park was also named a dragonfly hotspot by the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) due to its thriving dragonfly population. To celebrate the new accreditation, local community leaders and dignitaries attended a special event to mark the occasion. Organised by Tarmac and supported by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and the BDS, guests were also taken on a guided tour around the park’s dragonfly trail.
Some of the UK’s rarest species will be given a unique home thanks to a historic land deal 25 years in the making. In 2023, Tarmac and Trinity College, Cambridge signed over ownership of over 120 hectares of land formerly used for quarrying to the RSPB. The Langford Lowfields site is a thriving wetland habitat on the banks of the River Trent, at the heart of which sits the largest reedbed in the East Midlands. The reserve is a haven for nature, home to key species including bearded tits, marsh harriers, and otters, as well as bitterns, once nearly extinct in Britain.
Working in Partnership
Working in partnership with volunteers from Tarmac, local schools, residents, businesses, and community groups, the development of a new public woodland commemorating the life of Her Majesty was officially completed at Panshanger Park in 2023.
The woodland has been designed to create a new habitat in the 1,000-acre park on an area of land previously used for arable farming and will link existing woodland areas to create wildlife corridors and encourage a variety of plants and animals to thrive. As the woodland matures, there are also plans to introduce a wildflower meadow and ponds.
Archaeological Heritage
Tarmac has gifted Thornborough Henges - two henge monuments, part of a Neolithic complex in North Yorkshire - to Historic England and English Heritage.
Described as ‘the Stonehenge of the North’, this land was previously part of the Tarmac-owned Nosterfield Sand and Gravel Quarry site. Tarmac’s presence at Nosterfield has been ongoing since 1995 and has been key to developing the company’s understanding of the landscape and its history, and promoting practical improvements.
Looking forward
In 2024, we will continue to develop our ongoing relationships and partnerships with environmental bodies to support and deliver our restoration commitments and look to create new opportunities. Biodiversity net gain will also continue to be a priority for us as we work to have a positive impact at all our sites.
