A new Lytag lightweight aggregate (LWA) manufacturing facility has been opened in the Drax Power Station, North Yorkshire, significantly increasing access to the material for project teams throughout the UK.

Gareth Moores, managing director of Lytag, said: “This new facility will bring immediate benefits to our clients. We are now able to provide high-quality, consistent material to customer and project sites more quickly and efficiently than ever before, bringing time, cost and sustainability benefits for project teams, contractors and concrete product manufacturers.”

Lytag produces a lightweight secondary aggregate using Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA), a by-product of coal-fired power generation, which diverts the material from landfill into a secondary use and reduces demand on quarried aggregate.

Mr Moores continued: “With the new plant now open, we are able to manufacture and arrange delivery of our materials to meet our customers’ requirements more efficiently, bringing further benefits in terms of carbon emissions reductions, and adding to the natural sustainability credentials of LYTAG LWA.”

Peter Emery, production director at Drax, added: “The opening of the new facility is a very positive milestone for the power station and the local community. The new plant will be important in helping us to ensure the re-use of PFA produced by our electricity generation process and will mean more efficient use of our materials.”

Construction on the new site at Drax began in 2012 after consultation with the local community. The new plant will bring 20 new jobs to the local area.