Aggregate Industries' contracting division has opened a ‘pioneering’ new laboratory for materials testing due to a 'dearth of testing facilities' in the contracting sector.
The new Centre for Recycling and Research sits alongside Aggregate Industries’ current asphalt facility in Tinsley, Sheffield (pictured) but is mobile and can be moved to other areas of the country should major projects demand it, the firm said.
It has been certified by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Aggregate Industries said the investment highlights commitment to sustainability and first-class customer service, as the launch of the new lab comes at a time when despite being busier than ever, the contracting sector faces a shortage of testing facilities.
Neil Leake, national technical manager at Aggregate Industries’ Contracting Division, said: ‘Responding to the dearth of testing facilities available in the market, we’ve invested in this new UKAS-accredited lab, which means customers can now enjoy an end-to-end quality service for full site compliance.
‘The introduction of our in-house laboratory is a great milestone. It will not only help our customers achieve greater cost efficiencies and reporting times, but also enable us to push the boundaries of utilising recycled materials as part of our ongoing mission to make construction more sustainable.’
The new lab employs a fully certified laboratory manager, technician and a Kickstart employee on a six-month placement.
Aggregate Industries said it will be an integral part of vital work on recycled product testing and has already recycled around 80,000 tonnes of reclaimed asphalt planings from sites back into the local road network as asphalt mixtures and alternative foamix base and binder layers.
It added that its project partners and clients now benefit from an end-to-end quality assured process; from manufacture and installation to performance testing, and from much speedier reporting processes and more accurate testing.
