Environment
Conserving natural resources and protecting ecosystems
From our award-winning ‘Making Space for Nature’ projects to our Pledge 4 Nature with Cornwall’s Local Nature Partnership, Cormac is dedicated to exploring new ways to improve biodiversity and preserve the natural environment.
Cormac supports a regional ‘circular economy’ for secondary materials, reducing the adverse impacts associated with extraction of raw primary resources. We now have five Environment Agency permitted sites, where waste from highway construction and maintenance activities is processed into quality, affordable and sustainable secondary aggregate products.
We are dedicated to reducing carbon emissions. Cormac has switched to a green energy provider, partnered on a £1.6m pilot project to extract biomethane fuel from dairy farm slurry and has invested in a 425MWh solar farm at our quarry. We now produce low carbon asphalt at two sites in Cornwall, and we’re aiming to have a 100% ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) fleet of vehicles by 2030, while shifting to alternative-energy powered machinery, mobile traffic lights and floodlights.
Social and economic
Supporting our workforce and operating responsibly for a sustainable future
Providing employment, career development and apprenticeships opportunities are core to Cormac’s environmental strategy. As a large business, Cormac can use its influence to educate and encourage positive change, regularly sharing information and arranging supply chain engagement events.
We work with local small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting them to meet our supply chain selection criteria. As a Living Wage Foundation Employer, we implement a job evaluation scheme across all our roles to ensure fairness and consistency – and we influence our business partners to join.
Cormac continues to deliver award-winning green infrastructure projects, whilst upskilling our employees and creating new ‘green’ employment and business opportunities. We are currently working with over one hundred community groups on a wide variety of projects - providing equipment, offering advice and giving talks at schools.
Social Value in Sustainability
Re-Using Quarry Stockpile dust: The Newlyn Eco-Reef Research pilot involves the design and construction of low-carbon eco- reef blocks from surplus dust, a bi-product of aggregate production. These will be used to enhance the existing permanent structure constructed at the breakwater to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges.
Alternate Weed Treatment: Cormac has been working closely with Cornwall Council to test alternative treatment solutions for invasive plants and harmful weeds that are safer for bees, pollinators and human health.
- 35,000 tonnes of construction waste recycled internally at our recycling facilities each year
- 98% reduction in glyphosate herbicide chemicals for treating harmful weed and invasive plants
- 100% ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) fleet by 2030