Miles Macadam, WSP and Kier are working together with Shropshire Council to deliver a £1m carbon neutral surfacing improvement scheme – a first for any local authority.

The company has developed its own bespoke Carbon Calculator to measure the overall carbon footprint of any individual surfacing project. By comparing its own manufactured Grouted Macadams with conventional materials, Miles Macadam can demonstrate how their products are produced using a lower mixing temperature, a lower energy resource use and a lower bitumen content whilst delivering greater durability than conventional materials.

Working with Shropshire’s engineering consultants, WSP, and delivery partner, Kier, Miles Macadam was appointed to deliver a new road improvement programme across Shropshire’s Local Area Network. The company’s manufactured Grouted Macadam, Milepave™, has been specified as a low carbon warm mix material and the embodied carbon footprint of the whole scheme is to be offset through Miles Macadam’s verified carbon reduction programme.  In addition, Shropshire will mirror the total carbon offset through its own ‘Community Tree Scheme Initiative’ which will involve planting a variety of British woodland trees throughout the county to sequester the equivalent total embodied CO2.

Kit Ebben from Miles Macadam said: ‘Our aim is to reduce the overall carbon footprint of road improvement schemes. Shropshire has broken the mould, engaged their supply chain and built a sustainable model for delivering Carbon Neutral projects. This is a great achievement and creates a blueprint for future schemes.”