The ‘A’ rating comes following Marley Eternit’s £19 million investment in a new clay production facility at Keele, which opened last autumn. Producing 50 million tiles a year, the state of the art plant set out to make the tiles in a more sustainable way by significantly reducing waste and energy consumption. Since starting production, the amount of energy used for firing the roof tiles has been reduced by 20 percent compared with previous kilns and significantly less waste is now sent to landfill from the plant. Also, 20,000 trees have been replanted in the area.
Norman Richards, Marley Eternit’s head of environment, health and safety, said:
“The investment in our clay tile production facility has paid off and we have succeeded in producing clay plain tiles in a more sustainable way, making them a green choice for specifiers.
“Achieving this ‘A’ rating is an important milestone for Marley Eternit and means that all of our UK manufactured product range now meets the highest environmental standard as recognised by the BRE.”
Achieving the ‘A’ rating means that all Marley Eternit’s products are subjected to a life cycle assessment by the BRE. This means their environmental performance is continuously assessed according to specific criteria including global warming, acid rain and ecotoxicity.
The company aims to continue its drive to improve energy efficiency and to develop greener products and solutions. Norman Richards adds:
“We will continue to invest in plant and research and development in order to produce greener roofing solutions for the construction industry. By taking the lead in this way, we aim to raise standards of sustainable construction quite literally from the top down.”