2025 has been a landmark year for us as work started to build the UK’s first carbon capture facility at a cement works at our Padeswood site in north Wales. The carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has been more than four years in the making and our constructive partnership with the UK Government enabled us to reach a FID (Final Investment Decision) in September, allowing construction to begin. The carbon capture facility is expected to enable production of evoZero near-zero cement in 2029, which will help the UK construction industry reach its decarbonisation goals and us to meet our ambition to be a leading sustainable business.
We are also making big strides in our ambition to conserve natural resources and build a more circular and resilient business. In 2025 we processed almost one million tonnes of recycled aggregate and increased our capacity to recycle excavated waste at scale by investing in the UK’s largest wash plant at our Bristol-based B&A Group site.
In addition, our focus remains on developing a workplace where everyone feels included and respected and we continue to invest in our people and communities. We have strengthened our commitment to ensuring that the way we operate creates a positive, lasting impact well beyond the vital building materials we supply. This includes everything from investing in skills programmes, volunteering and supporting good causes, to enhancing biodiversity around our sites.
Our 2026 performance and sustainability report covers the progress we have made towards achieving our 2030 sustainability commitments in the 2025 calendar year. It highlights our continuing success in reducing Scope 1 emissions as well as a number of key initiatives that have taken place to help decarbonise our business. They include a UK-first trial to use hydrogen as a fuel to decarbonise asphalt production at our Criggion site and the first trials in England using CarbonCure technology in ready-mixed concrete at our Greenwich plant.
Our continuing success towards achieving our 2030 commitments is a team effort and I thank our employees for the energy and expertise they continue to bring as we work together to deliver our sustainability ambitions.
These are just some of the innovative projects we are working on in our aim to reach net zero by 2050, but reducing our carbon impact is just one of four sustainability pillars at the heart of our commitments.
Simon Willis
CEO, Heidelberg Materials UK
- Continued progress of our carbon capture and storage project at Padeswood
- Scope 1 emissions down 11.5% from 2016 base line
- Expansion of recycling division with acquisition of Mick George Limited and B&A Group plus new recycling hubs
- Launch of evoBuild our new global brand for low carbon and circular products
- Generated over £98 million worth of social impact in the UK
- Certification to updated BES 6001 responsible sourcing standard
- Launch of sixth round of Quarry Life Award
- All active quarries have a biodiversity management plan
Heidelberg Materials places sustainability at the core of its activities and, through its products, is playing a leading role in helping the construction sector reach net zero.
Its strategy and sustainability commitments are shaped by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and support its vision to build a more sustainable future that is net zero, safe and inclusive, nature positive, and circular and resilient.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated Heidelberg Materials’ 2030 carbon reduction targets under its 1.5°C framework. The company has committed to individual scope 1, 2 and 3 targets for 2030, in relation to the baseline year 2020.
Heidelberg Materials has a strong track record in reducing CO2 emissions. In 2024 it achieved a 30 per cent reduction of the specific net CO2 emissions per tonne of cementitious material compared with 1990 levels.