Ibstock, a leading UK manufacturer of clay bricks and concrete products, has confirmed a major investment in a new pathfinder project designed to put it on track to deliver the world’s first net zero emission brick factory.A combination of rapidly reduced process emissions and greater thermal efficiency is expected to cut the carbon intensity of bricks produced at the Ibstock Atlas site in the West Midlands by 50 per cent. The efficiency improvements are to be coupled with on-site renewable electricity generation and renewable energy procurement, while the remaining emissions will be offset through investment emission reduction projects.

As such, the company said it expects the Atlas project to deliver net zero emissions for its direct Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

The investment, which was announced at the Group’s AGM Trading Update on Earth Day last Thursday, marks the next stage of the company’s well-documented sustainability journey.

The Atlas re-development will receive part of a £60m fund, which will also support substantial wider investments in the company’s West Midlands Aldridge plant.

 

“The Net Zero journey is one we share with our customers,” said Ibstock chief executive Joe Hudson.

 

“We have seen a transformational shift in attitudes from all of our key stakeholders; and there is a ‘sea-change’ in how our customers, and, in turn, their customers, view environmental issues. As the UK’s leading brick manufacturer we recognise that we have to adapt and respond – and this is reflected in our Sustainability Roadmap to 2025.

“We have been leading the way for some time within our sector, with our investments in new production capacity at our Throckley, Chesteron, Eclipse and Lodge Lane plants all reducing the carbon intensity of the manufacturing process, and as the recipients of multiple sustainability awards. However, we can do more, and we can go further. Our plan to invest in Atlas is at the heart of this.”

The company’s goal is to establish the Atlas project as one of the most operationally efficient brick factories in the world and an exemplar for the industry in terms of environmental performance.

Ibstock intends to markedly increase brick production to meet demand for greener bricks and support government objective’s to deliver new homes and infrastructure at scale. Once the development is complete, the Atlas factory will produce more than 100 million bricks per annum, more than doubling its previous capacity.

The company said the investment will also bring crucial benefits to the local economy in terms of employment, training, and opportunities for local suppliers with the project expected to both support the future of the brick factory and create highly-skilled local manufacturing and engineering jobs.