The UK cement industry is celebrating the bicentenary of the invention of Portland cement with a fresh call to Government to back the sector’s transition to net zero manufacturing.
Joseph Aspdin, an English bricklayer, businessman, inventor, and stonemason was granted the patent for Portland cement on 21 October 1824, setting the UK and the world on a new construction journey.
Over the past two centuries, the ability of cement to bind together the ingredients of concrete has quite literally shaped our world. The material remains essential to delivering new homes, schools, hospitals, workplaces, roads and railways, as well as the infrastructure that provides us with clean water, sanitation and low-carbon energy.
However, the significant industrial milestone comes at a time when according to the Mineral Products Association, the UK Government’s recent draft Industrial Strategy Green Paper risks missing an opportunity to deliver support for industries such as cement which are vital to the UK’s infrastructure and development pipeline.
Net zero is a major opportunity for growth in the cement industry, with capacity for carbon capture and storage a clear natural advantage for the UK if the opportunity is fully supported.
The Mineral Products Association is also calling for the introduction of a watertight UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to level the carbon and energy policy costs between importers and domestic producers.
Dr Diana Casey, Executive Director, Energy and Climate Change, Cement and Lime at the Mineral Products Association said:
“As we celebrate the bicentenary of UK cement production, our industry has a clear commitment to net zero and UK manufactured cement remains essential to delivering the UK’s energy transition and development pipeline. It’s therefore important that Government continues to back the sector’s decarbonisation and UK construction buys cement that is responsibly sourced and made in cement kilns that are decarbonising.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About the Mineral Products Association:
The Mineral Products Association (MPA) is the trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and silica sand industries. With the merger of British Precast, and affiliation of the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR), Eurobitume, MPA Northern Ireland, MPA Scotland and the British Calcium Carbonate Federation, it has a growing membership of 520 companies and is the sectoral voice for mineral products.
MPA membership is made up of the vast majority of independent SME quarrying companies throughout the UK, as well as the 9 major international and global companies. It covers 100% of UK cement and lime production, 90% of GB aggregates production, 95% of asphalt and over 70% of ready-mixed concrete and precast concrete production. In 2018, the industry supplied £16 billion worth of materials and services to the Economy. It is also the largest supplier to the construction industry, which had annual output valued at £172 billion in 2018. Industry production represents the largest materials flow in the UK economy and is also one of the largest manufacturing sectors.