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You may not realize it, but by using reinforced concrete pipe from Hanson Pipe & Precast, you’re dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of your project. That’s because manufacturing Reinforced Concrete Pipe (RCP) creates 87% fewer carbon emissions than alternative pipe materials like HDPE. A significant difference!

That's not all. There are multiple reasons why Hanson Pipe & Precast’s products are the sustainable solution for today’s world.
Sustainability
 
   
Energy Conservation  
A long service life reduces energy needs. Hanson Pipe & Precast products’ long life reduces the need for replacement, thereby eliminating further manufacturing energy required for replacement products.
Concrete pipe exhibits a lower energy footprint associated with production, delivery and maintenance compared to other drainage products.
Most concrete mixes contain a certain amount of fly ash, a waste stream from the coal energy industry of which disposal has traditionally been difficult. This reduces the overall amount of cement required in the mixture which reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces landfill volumes and fly ash disposal costs, creates a lower-cost concrete and reduces the water required to produce the concrete. It is also proven that fly ash improves the concrete product’s durability which means its service life increases even more.
 
   
Recyclable  
Using industrial by-products and recycled materials reduces the need for virgin raw materials.
The reinforcement used in Hanson Pipe & Precast products is steel, which is typically 90 to 100% recycled. Any scrap steel not used in the products manufactured can be recycled again into another piece of usable reinforcement.
Once a concrete product reaches the end of its service life, which in most cases exceeds 100 years, it can be fully recycled.
Construction and demolition waste in the U.S. averages approximately 135 million tons annually. Hanson Pipe & Precast’s concrete products can be used in a variety of applications where virgin materials are generally used, not to mention that the steel is infinitely recyclable and does not need to be buried in a landfill.
 
   
Environmentally Friendly  
Made of primarily local, natural, non-toxic elements from the earth – sand, gravel, crushed stone or clay – Hanson Pipe & Precast’s concrete structures are inert.  They are not flammable, will not react with other materials and do not release chemicals into their surroundings or into the water they carry.
It has been suggested that using concrete products has an effect on the environment because of cement content.  It’s important to remember that cement is just a component of concrete and generally makes up no more than 10 to 13% of the total concrete mixture. In fact, the embodied carbon dioxide content (ECO2) in concrete products from using cement is approximately 11% of the total carbon dioxide produced during the manufacturing process of cement.
Approximately 60% of the carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacturing process of cement results from a process known as calcination, a chemical reaction among the raw materials in the cement kiln. Studies have shown that later, when hardened concrete is exposed to air, the calcination reaction reverses in a process known as carbonation, which occurs naturally in all concrete products and recaptures carbon dioxide. Eventually, exposure of hardened concrete to the air will allow the recapture of the carbon dioxide originally emitted during the cement manufacturing process.
Hanson Pipe & Precast is a sub-division of HeidelbergCement – one of the leading cement manufacturers in the area of carbon dioxide emission reductions and overall corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Due to this relationship, we are constantly at the forefront of any and all advances in cement production that positively affect the environment compared to current conditions and utilize these in our cement purchasing decisions.
Almost 100% of the components that make up Hanson Pipe & Precast’s concrete products are extracted and manufactured locally – less than 100 miles from the Hanson production facility – thereby reducing emissions and costs associated with long transport of materials.
Due to Hanson Pipe & Precast reinforced concrete pipe and precast products’ inherent, built-in strength, native materials excavated during installation can be used as backfill without having to transport select backfill materials from off-site.
 
   
Socially Preferred  
Concrete pipes are less likely to leak than other pipe materials.
Deflection is not an issue when using Hanson Pipe & Precast’s reinforced concrete pipe, thereby preventing potholes or distressed roads that cause community disturbance or accidents.
Hanson Pipe & Precast’s concrete structures prevent flooding, filter unwanted debris from the water stream and help prevent soil contamination as well as water born diseases due to leakage of sanitary sewer lines.
Concrete is not flammable meaning that whether you’re on a road where a tanker has wrecked, spilled fuel into the nearby culvert and a fire is possible or your child throws a sparkler into the culvert under your driveway at home, the conduit will not ignite and cave in.
Hanson Pipe & Precast makes an effort to utilize raw material suppliers who have a socially responsible business plan. For example, many of our aggregate and sand suppliers rehabilitate the quarries they once used for community use, benefiting social progress.
 
 
 
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