Lafarge Tarmac wins ‘Sustainability Champions 2013’

The British Precast Concrete Association has awarded Lafarge Tarmac the title of ‘Sustainability Champions 2013’ for an innovative system that reduces fuel costs and downtime for the company’s tanker fleet.

The Automatic Tyre Inflation System (ATIS) continually monitors and adjusts the air pressure in the tanker tyres, reducing fuel consumption and enabling the tankers to travel longer distances without refueling. Since introducing the ATIS, Lafarge Tarmac has increased its miles to gallon by 1% and reduced fuel consumption by 3 – 4% across the fleets. Even more significantly, the system has extended the lifecycle of the business’ fleets by 20% and cut downtime and maintenance associated with tyre blowout damage. A further benefit is improved safety – roadside repairs are no longer necessary as vehicles can return safely to the depot to complete the tyre changes.

The award recognises the environmental and financial savings of the system. Commenting for the Judges, Martin Clarke, Chief Executive of the British Precast Concrete Federation, said: “We were pleased to award Lafarge Tarmac with the 2013 Associate member Sustainability Champion Award. The award is an important one which reminds all parts of our supply chain upstream and downstream that they have a valuable contribution to make in reducing environmental impact. The Lafarge Tarmac Automatic Tyre Inflation System entry was a very strong one. The judges were impressed by the potential for transferability across the industry and by the win-win of lower fuel costs and reduced capital cost. We were doubly delighted to this year present a further award to Lafarge Tarmac as a reward for their consistent and effective support for our sustainability programme and this Award in particular.”

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui