If your project needs to meet sustainability targets or reduce its environmental impact, low carbon concrete is the right choice. Express Concrete supplies low carbon ready-mix concrete from four plants across London, delivering to sites across the capital and surrounding areas.
We have been supplying ready-mix concrete since 1991. Our team understands what London construction projects need: reliable delivery, consistent quality, and mixes that perform. Our low carbon concrete gives you all of that, with a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to standard mixes.
Standard concrete uses Portland cement (also called CEM I) as its binding agent. Producing Portland cement releases a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In fact, the cement in a concrete mix accounts for around 80 to 90% of its total carbon footprint.
Low carbon concrete reduces this by replacing some or all of the Portland cement with alternative materials that produce far less carbon. The most common of these is GGBS, which stands for ground granulated blast-furnace slag. GGBS is a by-product of the steel industry. It would otherwise go to waste, but it works as an effective and low carbon binder in concrete mixes.
According to The Concrete Centre, using GGBS and other supplementary cementitious materials in place of Portland cement can cut the embodied carbon of concrete by up to 40%, and in some cases more.
The result is a concrete that performs just as well as a standard mix in terms of strength and durability, but with a much lower environmental impact.
Express Concrete is an independent, family-owned ready mix concrete supplier. We provide the construction industry in London and the surrounding areas with an excellent service, high quality sustainable product at a competitive price.
Our first concrete plant opened in Barking, East London in May 2017. After a successful first year, we opened our second plant at Erith in September 2018.
As we continue to grow as a business, we have ambitious plans to expand further. Our state of the art Wembley plant opened in 2022 and we opened our Chessington Plant in 2023. Check our coverage area to see all the locations we serve.
At Express Concrete, we blend GGBS into our mixes to reduce Portland cement content. The proportion of GGBS in the mix depends on your project requirements and the application. Our team will recommend the right mix design for your job.
This approach:
Our concrete carries independent third-party certification from the Quality Scheme for Ready Mixed Concrete (QSRMC). This means every batch is tested and verified to meet the strength and quality specifications you need. You can read more about our certifications on our accreditations page.
Yes. Replacing part of the Portland cement with GGBS does not reduce the strength of the finished concrete. In fact, mixes with a high GGBS content can gain strength over a longer period, meaning they can actually be stronger at 56 days than a standard CEM I mix is at 28 days.
The key things to know:
If you have any questions about whether low carbon concrete is right for your application, our technical team is happy to help before you place your order.
Low carbon concrete is suitable for a wide range of projects. Demand has grown steadily across London as more contractors, developers, and project managers look to reduce their carbon footprint.
Commercial and residential developers who need to meet planning requirements or sustainability targets under the London Plan will find that specifying low carbon concrete is a practical and cost-effective step. Major developments in London now need to demonstrate reduced CO2 emissions as part of the planning process.
Contractors and groundworkers working on projects where clients or principal contractors have set embodied carbon limits will be able to meet those requirements with our GGBS blended mixes.
Self-builders and domestic customers who want to make more sustainable choices can also order low carbon ready-mix concrete for driveways, foundations, garden projects, and extensions.
If you are unsure whether your project requires low carbon concrete, or how to specify it, get in touch with our team and we will guide you through it.
Sustainability is not just about the concrete mix. It runs through our operations as a business.
We hold ISO 14001 certification, the internationally recognised standard for environmental management. This means we have formal systems in place to manage and reduce our environmental impact across all of our operations, from sourcing raw materials to dispatching our fleet.
We are also accredited to BES 6001, which confirms that our concrete is responsibly sourced. This accreditation verifies our supply chain practices and demonstrates our commitment to environmental, social, and ethical responsibility.
As a FORS Champion, we apply best practices to our vehicle fleet to reduce emissions and improve safety. These accreditations back up our promise that choosing Express Concrete means choosing a supplier that takes sustainability seriously.
