The Fivemiletown-headquartered firm has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2030 despite a surge in production levels.
The firm, which has manufacturing locations in Fivemiletown, Dungannon, Toome and Carryduff, already has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry and is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its operations to an absolute minimum.
The firm has signed Business in the Community's Climate Action Pledge whereby companies commit to reducing their scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by at least 30% and to also begin reducing Scope 3. As part of the pledge, Business in the Community sets science-based targets and will chart AG's decarbonisation journey.
Last year, the business reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 10%, despite a 30% increase in production volumes as the company faced unprecedented demand for its products reinforcing its commitment to a greener future in construction.
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To ensure AG achieves its ambitious target it plans to invest in its own renewable energy production where possible. As well as this, work has already begun on reducing the cement quantity in its products.
The creation of a pioneering carbon calculator will also allow AG to calculate its overall carbon impact, as well as the carbon impact per product, driving the firm's sustainability agenda through the introduction of more environmentally friendly products into the business.
The specialist building products business previously switched to bio-LPG from the industry-standard LPG resulting in a carbon saving of 70% – equal to a person driving around the world three times. The business has also introduced electric and hybrid cars into their fleet with a goal of having a full hybrid/electric fleet by 2025. This was led by CEO Stephen Acheson with support from the firm's net zero carbon team which was set up with the aim of reducing the company's carbon footprint, as part of an energy strategy developed with a commitment to producing low carbon products.
Rodney Davidson, Commercial Director at AG said: "For many years, we have worked tirelessly to reduce our energy usage. The Climate Action pledge further demonstrates our commitment to making long lasting and impactful changes."
CEO, Stephen Acheson added: "AG has a corporate social responsibility to be sustainable. Each of our sites bring our corporate environmental philosophy to life and our commitment to reducing the impact our sites have on our surrounding environment is evidenced by the rich biodiversity found around our sites – such as the peregrine falcons currently nesting in our Fivemiletown quarry.
"We are delighted to be making very positive steps in our journey of carbon reduction and look forward to working with Business in the Community as we work towards our 2030 target."
