sustainability
Albion's policy is to proactively manage the impact of our business operations on the
environment and the communities in which we operate. We aim to monitor our performance to
ensure that it will continuously reduce the impact.
Whilst of course it is true that all quarries and mines cannot be sustainable in the true sense of
the word, there are lots of actions that can be taken to ensure the stone is won and used in the
most sustainable manner. This can be achieved through the maximisation of the dimension stone
resource, the efficient use of the end product and understanding the life cycle implications of
the application.
Hydra bags are inserted into the cut and filled
with water |
The stones are dislodged from their natural beds with minimal force thereby preserving their integrity and increasing the quarries yield |
Albion, as simply the stone supplier are not in control of all these aspects of the projects but we
can control the extraction and production phases, and this is where we focus our efforts. Over
the last 15 years we have dramatically changed our processes, introducing cutting technology to
the quarries and also mining operations to extract otherwise inaccessible reserves. Our yield of
stone per metre squared of surface area has doubled as a result of these changes, effectively
reducing the impact of our extraction operations by 50%.
High Wall Mining in Bowers extracts stone alongside the boundary. This stone could not have been extracted if we continued to quarry as we would have potentially destabilized adjoining land, therefore mining has maximised the reserve of this site |
The Factory maximises the usage of the stone through careful selection of the blocks and
controls the manufacturing process. It is important to be aware that projects with lots of large
stones are likely to have a higher carbon footprint through higher wastage. However, this 'waste'
is not thrown away. Larger cut-offs are 'cropped' to produce walling, rejected tiles and pavers
are sold as crazy paving and the remainder is transferred to the aggregate operation.
Although Albion cannot control the design and specifications on stone projects, the company
have been actively working with the Stone Federation to encourage best practice; thinner stones
for cladding, load bearing stone where practical and the new BS 8298 should help designers to
use the stone wisely. We have also been closely involved with the BRE Green Guide team. Whilst
the industry still has some concerns about the methods employed by the Green Guide which we
believe unfairly penalizes dimension stone, even these existing figures show that Limestone is an
environmentally sound choice.
The following link will take you to the relevant pages in the BRE Green Guide and will allow you
to compare Portland Stone (UK sourced Limestone) to other stones and alternative products. The
information can be found through any of the 'building types' if you click on the following:
