The Mineral Products Association has set out proposals for a new Aggregates Levy Community Fund to be introduced in England in April 2020.
Local communities, who suffer the impacts of an industry dominated by a handful of multi-billion pound corporations, shouldn’t get excited:
The MPA proposal would see 8p per tonne - or 4% - of Aggregates Levy revenue being allocated to the new ALCF to fund local community projects and biodiversity and nature conservation projects. It would mean that an aggregates quarry selling 200,000 tonnes of aggregates per year would generate aggregates levy credits of £11,200 annually for community use...
The figure of 8p per tonne gives you an indication of how much the minerals industry cares about the communities it blights; it effectively rounds down to nothing. To put the number in context, look at LafargeHolcim’s 2017 Annual Report:
The new CEO (Jan Jenisch) started on September 1st 2017 and received a combined base salary plus variable compensation of CHF 1.7 million, share-based compensation of CHF 6.8 million, employer contributions to pension benefits of CHF 0.3 million. As a result, the new CEO’s total compensation amounted to CHF 8.8 million.
Around £7 million in 4 months; nice work if you can get it. Or if that figure doesn't do it, how about this:
Lafarge paid 13 million euros to armed groups to keep operating in Syria - rights group
LafargeHolcim is the parent company of Aggregate Industries.
