Adbri Masonry has adopted sustainability action plans across the business in accordance with Adelaide Brighton’s commitment to being an environmentally active company.
Through a range of initiatives, Adbri Masonry aims to produce quality products with a focus on environmental sustainability. Adbri Masonry’s environmental initiatives include the following:
Water initiatives
Water is a substantial resource in the production of masonry products. Site initiatives have been identified and actions implemented:
- The Staplyton plant has implemented water strategies for reuse.
- The Moorebank plant re-cycles all site production water. Clean water is collected and reused in the process after the fine particulates have been removed.
- The Nowra plant use recycled water to control site dust by collecting the storm water runoff and reusing the water as a dust suppression agent.
- The Staplyton plant has implemented water strategies for reuse.
Adbri Masonry uses recycled materials in the manufacturing process
A key initiative has been the use of recycled material in the manufacture of grey block. Adbri Masonry’s Nowra plant in New South Wales has established a resource recovery initiative with the Nowra Shire Council to recycle waste materials from concrete block production for use as a road and pavement base in construction work within the Council area.
Pallets
An initiative in the packaging and delivery of ‘Litec’ lightweight blocks has been achieved by changing the stacking configuration. This has reduced the number of timber pallets required by 20% and reduced truck movements by 17% for the same block tonnes delivered.
The waste management of unrepairable pallets has been a challenge for Adbri Masonry. A trial to mulch pallets for garden use has been successful and this practice has been adopted by the New South Wales operations. In Queensland, broken pallets are also recycled through a mulching agent who prepares a biomass fuel for a local sugar mill power generation plant.