A report published yesterday says that manufacturing asphalt at temperatures of up to 40 degrees lower than traditional hot mix can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 15%. But it is thought that only 4% of asphalt production in the UK is warm mix, compared to 40% in the United States.

If all of the asphalt produced in Britain during 2017 had been warm mix, it would have saved 61,000t of CO2, the Group claims, the equivalent of cutting almost 300 million miles of car journeys.

The All Party group’s chairman Sir Christopher Chope MP said highway authorities should “put their support for environmental measures into practice without delay”.

He added: “Everyone has a part to play in tackling environmental issues for future generations and the majority of UK councils have already declared climate emergencies.”

Other advantages of using warm mix rather than hot mix asphalt, the report adds, include the ability to lay more material in a single shift, reopening lanes earlier to traffic, reducing costs and improving workforce safety.

The report adds that Highways England published clauses in its Specification for Highways Works this July to explicitly include warm mix asphalt. ‘This is a positive step’, the document states, ‘but more needs to be done to remove the remaining practical and procurement barriers that prevent existing client support’ for warm mix asphalts.

Asphalt Industry Alliance chairman Rick Green said that take up of warm mix in the UK has been “frustrated by contract specifications and guidance” which require prolonged processes for approvals and departure. “It’s time to cut through these impediments,” he added.

The Local Government Association’s Transport spokesman David Renard commented: “Councils are already working with the private sector to adopt innovative practices and technology which maintains and improves the country’s roads, and are keen to implement any new methods which can help to reduce carbon emissions, and disruption from potholes and damaged road surfaces.

“Only with adequate funding can councils pay for local services, such as road maintenance. That is why we urge the Government to invest in councils in this week’s Spending Round and give them the financial certainty they need to plan for the future.”

(Photograph: Mineral Products Association)