Federal Minister for the Environment, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, officially launched the new line of fully
sustainable bricks at Brickworks' Austral Bricks Longford plant in Tasmania.
"Brickworks has a long history of implementing energy efficiency measures and exploring alternative processes to reduce its impact on the environment. Over the past 10 years, the company has invested time and money in product and process efficiencies and innovation, resulting in a voluntary reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by over 45 percent," said Managing Director Lindsay Partridge.
"Our new carbon neutral bricks, produced at the Longford facility in Tasmania, use locally-sourced waste biomass energy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 100 per cent.
"This has resulted in a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 8,607 tonnes to just 215 tonnes per year; equivalent to the annual output of 466 average Australian households.
"The company has implemented further energy and greenhouse gas abatement projects, with the remainder of emissions offset through investments in other conservation projects. Certification includes all of the emissions along the supply chain, like transport, product deliveries, water usage, packaging and waste, not just the emissions from actually firing the bricks in our kilns.
"We're proud to support the local jobs in the manufacturing industry in Tasmania while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. We remain committed to using alternative energy and reducing our emissions in an effort to conserve Tasmania's natural resources," Mr Partridge added.
Brickworks' new carbon neutral bricks are available from Austral Bricks (Tasmania) Pty Ltd and Daniel
Robertson Pty Ltd throughout Australia.
BRICKWORKS LIMITED (ASX CODE: BKW) www.brickworks.com.au
Lindsay Partridge, Managing Director Tel: (02) 9830 7800
Media inquiries:
Rebecca Piercy, Kreab Gavin Anderson Tel: 0422 916 422
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