As you would expect, as Leca® LWA is produced in a kiln the carbon footprint effect appears high however, our production team are continually looking for ways in which to reduce and offset these effects by using for example, materials that would normally be sent to landfill for use in the burning to heat the kilns which in turn is re-directed as a renewable energy for the factory and offices.
During transportation, we ship in large volumes to the UK keeping the CO2 emissions per m³ reasonably low. Once the material reaches the UK port, it is stored at the port until it is required by the customer, hence no increased CO2 emissions through double handling. When required by the customer, we transport as much material as possible per vehicle using walking floor trucks which in the dry June of 2011, one delivery was calculated at 102m³. On average, walking floors carry in excess of 70m3 thus reducing the amount of traditional aggregate delivery vehicles by up to 8!
When being installed in a typical application, the overall energy exerted during the placement and compaction of the Leca® is considerably reduced due to the deeper compaction layers, the type of compaction equipment used, less volume reduction during compaction and the fewer passes necessary to achieve optimum compaction.
Leca® LWA is an inert material that can be used and re-used on site and there is no need for disposal of excess to landfill.