Sectors

The UK chemicals sector is diverse and includes a wide range of organisations using different chemical processes to convert raw materials to products for sale to customers. The UK chemicals sector is one of the largest energy-using sectors in the UK, consuming 16.5% of all industrial energy in 2012 with a total emissions (direct and indirect) of 18.4 million tonnes of CO2 in that year.

There are some 11,100 companies in the UK metals industry, employing around 230,000 people and directly contributing nearly £10.7bn to UK GDP. The iron and steel industry is one of the biggest industrial emitters of CO2 in the UK with 22.8 million tonnes in 2013.

The UK’s glass manufacturing sector contributes around £2bn to the UK economy annually and directly employs around 6,000 people, with an estimated 150,000 more indirect jobs. Glass is an energy-intensive sector and in 2012 it was estimated to emit 1.7 million tonnes/year of carbon dioxide, with a further 0.5 million tonnes/year emitted in electricity production for use within the sector.

UK concrete and cement currently account for around 1.5% of UK carbon dioxide emissions, five times lower than the global average where cement accounts for around 7% of emissions. While the UK Government is aiming for net zero by 2050, the concrete and cement sector is aiming to go beyond net zero and become net negative, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits each year.

UK papermaking acts as the foundation for a paper-based sector representing a collective turnover of £11.5 billion per annum and directly employing 56,000 people. In that year, it was estimated to emit 2.4 million tonnes/year of CO2, with a further 0.9 million tonnes/year emitted in grid electricity production for use within the sector.

The UK ceramic industry manufacturers a diverse range of products including bricks, roof tiles, drainage pipes, wall tiles, tableware, giftware, sanitary ware, technical components and refractories, accounting for approx. £2 billion in annual sales including £0.5 billion in exports. The sector is energy-intensive and consumes around 4.7 TWh of delivered energy per year, with gas accounting for 80 to 82% of the industry’s overall energy mix8 . Total emissions in 2012 were 1.2 million tonnes CO2.