Sustainability

Net Zero - The Challenge

To respond to the climate emergency, all parts of society must play their part. The built environment contributes 40% to the UK’s carbon emissions and therefore has a big responsibility to reduce carbon throughout the construction lifecycle. For manufacturers this means changes in how they manufacture products, and also what products are manufactured to contribute to reducing carbon emissions through the lifetime of a building or structure to end of life. This is time of great challenge but also great opportunity. Whatever the future holds, it will be different.

Briefing Paper

Cop 26 - An Introduction & what will be happening in Glasgow

The members of the CPA represent a very wide sector of material and products manufacturers based in the UK, from material producers such as cement, steel and wood producers to product producers such as wood panel, door and hardware and flooring manufacturers. For each sector the challenges and opportunities of decarbonisation are likely to be different. For energy Intensive industries (such as cement, steel and ceramics) the priority is how to replace fossil fuel in the manufacturing process, for other sectors, such as flooring it may be how to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill. How can these materials not be thrown away but have a future role.

Below is a directory linking to the broad range of actions manufacturers and industry groups that are members of the CPA are taking to contribute to decarbonisation targets. You can also learn more about the climate emergency and decarbonisation in our Sustainability Briefing Papers on the right.

CPA members can find further resources and join the commitment to cut carbon emissions via the UN Race to Zero and the SME Climate Hub or on the UK Government's Business and SME Climate Hub. Similarly, you can join the #TogetherForOurPlanet campaign backed by the UK government by sharing what your business is doing to help reach Net Zero. The campaign will run through to COP26.

CPA Members are encouraged to share their decarbonisation stories using the directory below.

Briefing Papers

Explore all our Sustainability Briefing Papers

Find Out More

CPA Decarbonisation Directory

Manufacturers taking Action

If you are a CPA member and would like to submit an entry to the directory below, please contact Jane Thornback or Matt McKeown.

Click on each entry to find out further details.

Baxi Heating

Baxi Heating has pledged to be carbon neutral in all its operations by 2030, and to phase-out carbon intensive heating by ensuring every product it makes from 2025 will work with low carbon energy.

BEAMA

In 2019, BEAMA, the electrical equipment and system manufacturers association, set out their commitment, signed by 24 companies, to take action to deliver the net zero by 2050 target.

Brick Development Association

The BDA issues an annual Sustainability Report reviewing collective progress in brick manufacturing across a range of sustainability indicators, and highlighting challenges to be addressed.

British Ceramic Confederation

The British Ceramic Confederation has launched a new sector programme “British Ceramics: Towards Net Zero” – aimed at sharing best practice in proven decarbonisation technologies and business approaches, helping to nurture further industry decarbonisation and to communicate the challenges this means for the sector.

CARES

The UK Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steel, has committed via the Race to Zero SME Climate Hub to reducing its direct carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, reaching Net Zero by 2050, and will report progress annually.

Contract Flooring Association

For Flooring, a key element in the decarbonisation journey is to reduce the amount of waste created at end of use. CFA has explored what is needed in its report 'Zero Avoidable Waste in Flooring — Towards a Circular Economy'.

Forterra

Forterra supports the UK 2050 Net Zero target and has joined the Race To Zero setting an absolute carbon reduction target of 27.5% by 2030 against a 2019 baseline.

GENUIT

Genuit group is a signatory of the Pledge to Net Zero, and has stated an interim target of a 66% Scope 1 & 2 reduction in carbon by 2025 without resorting to offsets.

Hanson

Hanson has drawn up 2030 Commitments around a range of indicators including energy and carbon, and issues an annual sustainability report with performance metrics.

H+H

H+H has committed to achieving net-zero emissions in its operations and products by 2050

Ibstock Brick

Ibstock Plc has moved towards procuring 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. The company also confirmed investment in a pathfinder project to achieve world’s first Net Zero brick factory.

Kingspan Group

Kingspan’s 10-year Planet Passionate programme sets ambitious targets on energy, carbon, circularity and water that will ensure it meets it SBTi targets, and be a net zero carbon manufacturing company globally by 2030.

Knauf

Knauf Insulation has set targets to minimise the climate impact of its products, plants and offices.

Saint Gobain

Saint-Gobain is committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050 as part of its purpose to ‘Make the world a better home’. It has in place medium-term science-based targets for 2030.

Marley

Marley has set an objective to achieve a 78% reduction in carbon emissions or carbon offsetting by 2035 compared to its 2019 levels.

Marshalls

Between 2008 and 2020, Marshalls reduced its carbon footprint by 50%, and has had its commitments to reduce emissions even further approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.

MCRMA

The Metal Cladding & Roofing Manufacturers Association’s approach to sustainability centres on the high recycled content of their products which are made from both pre-consumer and post-consumer scrap and can be reused or recycled repeatedly without losing their qualities as a building material.

MPA - The Concrete Centre

The UK concrete and cement sector has set out a roadmap to become net negative by 2050, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits each year.

Rockwool

ROCKWOOL employs circularity principles to production whilst carbon, water and waste reduction all feature heavily in their ambitious sustainability targets, including science-based decarbonisation targets set in 2020 that have been verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

Sika

Sika has committed to reduce carbon emission by 12% per ton sold by 2023, based on a 2019 baseline.

Tarmac

Tarmac has fully committed to supporting the UK’s ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and is making progress across its business and supply chain, using a whole life-cycle approach to design CO₂ out of its products and services.

Tata Steel

Tata Steel is investing in decarbonisation technologies to deliver carbon neutrality by 2050.

VELUX

Velux has verified Science Based Targets in line with the Paris Agreement and is partnering with WWF to be a Lifetime Carbon Neutral company by 2041, i.e. to also compensate for all of its past historical emissions by tree planting.

Wienerberger

Wienerberger AG has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with an interim target to achieve a 15% reduction in emissions (kgCO₂e/m²) by 2023, from a 2020 baseline.

Wavin

Wavin has set a goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.