It would be tempting to dismiss 'sustainable development' as just a fashionable phrase if it were not the title of a serious attempt by governments including the National Assembly for Wales to safeguard our environment for the sake of future generations.

Sustainable developement means making the most of what we have and, in environment terms, living within our means. Rather than using up precious resources, the idea is to sustain the availability of those resources for as long as possible by making industry more efficiient and reusing materials that might otherwise be discarded.

Castle's plan to spend £48 million to modernise its Padeswood works is an example of the company's commitment to playing it's part in helping the UK meet global objectives for sustainable development. Modernisation will make the works more energy-efficient so it will use less fuel to do the same amount of work and it will also dramatically reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Castle plans to fire its cement kiln at Padeswood with a mixture of  'Cemfuel' -  a processed fuel made from waste solvents - used tyres, paper and plastics along with the traditional coal. This will enable the company to recover energy from materials that are unsuitable for recycling and further reduce overall emissions.  Alternative fuels are already successfully in use at Castle's Lancashire and Rutland works and are used widely in other parts of the world.

Castle recognises that we all live on a planet of limited resources. If industry is to continue producing wealth for local communities and the UK economy as a whole, ways have to be found to sustain that output at the lowest possible cost to the environment. Castle's modernisation of its Padeswood works will help make that happen.