Environment
Quarry & Asphalt Division
Our Environmental Policy requires our employees, sub-contractors and suppliers to:
- Comply with applicable environmental legislation.
- To continuously improve in line with best industry environmental practice.
- To optimise our use of energy and resources.
- To be good neighbours in the communities in which we operate.
A copy of our Environmental Policy Statement can be obtained on request.
Environmental stewardship is embedded in the daily line-management of all our activities. Our managers receive support in areas where specialised knowledge is required. We review our environmental performance annually. All locations and contracts are run in accordance with our ISO14001 Environmental Management System (EMS), which is independently audited by the BSI.
In addition to our ISO 14001 EMS, the Division subscribes to Aggregate Levy Credit Scheme (ALCS), administered by the Environment and Heritage Service on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs. Under ALCS, each quarry has a baseline environmental audit carried out by independent IEMA registered auditor. From this, the EHS draw up an environment improvement plan for each location, which is then put in place. Audit/improvement is based on a two year cycle. Compliance with the scheme allows producers to charge a significantly rebated Aggregate Tax, while directly improving environmental performance.
Each year a significant investment is made in both small and large environmental improvements. This clearly demonstrates our ongoing commitment to continuous environmental improvement. Where plant upgrades or new projects are being implemented, they are designed to minimise or eliminate emissions to air and water, and to minimise or eliminate noise and waste. Our aim is to introduce more environmentally friendly processes and products, and to progressively move towards best industry practice. When plants are overhauled, environmental controls and energy efficiency are reviewed and where possible improved.
The Division monitors and reports on all forms of energy used in our manufacturing and contracting processes. Continuous improvements in the control of energy use results in year-on-year reductions in the consumption of energy.
We are encouraging the use of recycled products in all our products and processes. To this end we have made a substantial investment at our Croaghan asphalt plant by installing a recovered asphalt pavement (RAP) recycling facility, along with additional specialised equipment which gives us the capacity to produce low-energy input foamed bitumen mixes.
Each year we review the landscaping of all our locations and improve or maintain landscaped areas. Where possible we increase tree planting and increase landscaped areas, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to longer-term sustainability. Many of our quarries are favoured habitats for birds and wildlife, some of which might otherwise be endangered.
We have a progressive policy in facilitating requests for location visits from neighbours, students and interested stakeholders.
The company has been consistently placed in the top quintile of environmental performers by the Arena Business Network.
Most Recent Environmental Awards:
Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI) 2007 Environmental Award Scheme – 1st place – we scored highly in all categories, including: air, land and water, pollution prevention, energy efficiency, biodiversity and community relations.
Sustainable Building Project of the Year 2007 – our new HO building at Croaghan was highly commended.
Quarries and Biodiversity
The mineral extraction industry has been viewed in the past as having a detrimental effect on the Earth's resources, together with an associated impact on biological habitats. In practice, however, quarrying paves the way for unique ecological niches that can be exploited by many species, both flora and fauna, and perhaps even species not previously observed in the surrounding area. We are committed to the promotion of this biodiversity. Biodiversity is defined as the number of different species of plants and animals present in a particular environment. Quarries have the potential to increase the biodiversity of an area in various ways:
- The stripping of soils and subsequent construction of landscape bunds. These bunds can subsequently be colonised by species of both wild and planted native flora, which leads to habitation by invertebrates and small mammals.
- Unused areas of the quarry face can provide breeding grounds for cliff-nesting birds, such as peregrine falcons and ravens. The lack of competitive vegetation on these rocky faces and the uniqueness of the habitat also provides a niche for lithophytes (plants that grow on rock) such as mosses, liverworts, and certain species of orchid.
- Settlement ponds and lagoons can support species of waterfowl such as dabchicks, tufted ducks and mallards. Lagoons formed by water ingress in disused quarry voids can be stocked with freshwater fish.
- Dust piles provide ideal summer nesting for migratory burrowing birds such as sand martins. Swallows and house martins can commonly be found nesting in quarry buildings.
Click here for higher resolution (1024x768) free wallpaper image of swallow young on nest. Image may be freely used for personal and non-commercial use in unedited form as Windows Wallpaper. Please note that the images remain Copyright © Northstone (NI) Ltd. It many not be used on a website, or for any commercial purpose, without prior permission.
Various species of wild plant and animal life have been observed at Northstone quarries, including:
- Scotch heather (Calluna vulgaris)
- Red valerian (Centranthus ruber)
- Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)
- Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
- Raven (Corvus corax)
- Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
- Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
- Little grebe (or Dabchick) (Tachybaptus rufficolis)
- Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)
Concrete Division
Our Environmental Policy requires employees, sub-contractors and suppliers to:-
- Comply with applicable environmental legislation.
- To continuously improve in line with best industry environmental practice.
- To optimise our use of energy and resources.
- To be good neighbours in the communities in which we operate.
Environmental stewardship is fully integrated into the daily line management of all activities. Managers receive suitable and sufficient support in all areas which require specialist knowledge.
An environmental review of the Concrete Division’s activities is undertaken each year and this includes drawing up an environmental improvement plan.
All locations and contracts are undertaken in accordance with the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) or a more product specific system.
In addition to the environmental management systems, the Division subscribes to the Aggregate Levy Credit Scheme (ALCS) where appropriate. This is administered by the Environment and Heritage Services (EHS) on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs. Under the ALCS, each sand production site has a baseline environmental audit carried out by an independent IEMA auditor. This audit is then used by the EHS to develop an environmental improvement plan for each location which is then implemented. Audit and improvement is based on a two year cycle. Compliance with the Scheme allows producers to charge a significantly rebated Aggregate Tax, while at the same time improving the environmental performance of the business.
Each year, the Division makes a significant investment in environmental improvements across the business. This demonstrates the ongoing commitment to continuous environmental improvement. Where plant upgrades or new projects are planned, there are always designed to minimise or eliminate emissions to air and water, and to minimise or eliminate noise and waste. It is our aim to introduce more environmentally friendly processes and products, and to progressively move towards best industry practice. When production units are refurbished, environmental controls and energy efficiency measures are always reviewed and where possible improved. When mobile plant and machinery is renewed, the purchasing specification includes key environmental criteria.
In This Section
Download Centre
