All concrete elements used in the construction of our Wheeled Sports Facilities are manufactured in the UK ensuring that we saving on transport and fuel costs as well as reducing CO2 emissions.

Environmental Impact

Concrete is a small net contributor to global warming responsible for only 2.6% of UK C02 emissions in 2002. This compares with 33% of total CO2 from transport and 47% from buildings in use. The majority of concrete contains cement produced as a by-product of other industries such as fly ash from coal-fired power stations and ground granulated blast-furnace slag from the iron industry; both these would
historically have gone to land-fill.

All timber is sourced from a sustainable source.

•  Wherever possible raw materials are sourced from local suppliers, the average delivery distance is 10 radial miles – saving on transport fuel and reducing CO2 emissions.
• All reinforcement bars produced in the UK are manufactured from recycled scrap.
• At the end of a facilities life the pre cast concrete elements and reinforcement can be totally recycled and re-used in construction.
• The durability of concrete is proven by the continued existence today of buildings up to two thousand years old

Recycling/Recovery

The following recycling policy is followed:

• Once a project is completed all moulds are broken down if they can’t be re-used and wherever possible the timber is re-cycled and re-used on new moulds, all other timber is then segregated and
  is sent for chipping.
• At the factory the elements are poured into purpose made moulds and result in virtually zero waste, the volume of material is calculated on a mould by mould basis and ordered accordingly.
• Due to the bespoke nature of our business the majority of projects are made to order, however any scrap units are crushed and the by-product used as Type 1 hardcore.

Office waste

Sorting waste, including paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminium, glass and printer cartridges, is part of the daily routine for Natural Sports personnel.

On site waste

On all projects Natural Sports only use registered disposal agencies or contractors, with all materials disposed of recorded by the contractor. Skip operators usually recycle removed materials after collection of their skips, e.g metal is taken to local scrap metal dealers.

Spare Parts

Most consumable and replaceable parts are off the shelf items therefore sourcing replacements locally should be easy. Where specific spare parts are required, parts are held in one location in the UK as this offers the quickest service to our customers, and are despatched by national couriers as and when required.

Spare parts packaging is minimised as parts are held as individual items and can therefore be consolidated into smaller packages.

Transport

Natural Sports and its partners have improved the efficiency of our packing, which uses less lorries; in some instances we increased our loads by 33%, hence reducing the impact on the environment.

We have also sourced UK manufacturing facilities saving on transport fuel and reducing CO2 emissions.