Corporate Responsibility

Waste reduction

In September 2009 we signed up to the WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Program) Halving Waste to Landfill commitment in the UK. We have made significant progress towards this target. For example our highways and transportation business in the UK diverted an average of 80% of waste away from landfill through the five commissions that we manage on behalf of clients. In Ireland a significant design change at a complex junction on the M50 upgrade project resulted in the avoidance of 60,000m³ of waste material being excavated weighing an estimated 110,000 tonnes.

Our waste performance

We continue to improve and refine our waste management facilities where possible. As we lease the majority of our properties it is very difficult to obtain accurate waste data for all of our operations. However we are able to report on waste and recycling for a number of key UK properties that account for approximately 35% of our UK staff. Through these locations approximately 45% of the waste is recycled. In Sweden and Denmark we continue to divert 100% of waste away from landfill through recycling or conversion to energy. In Asia Pacific we recycled 63% of our waste. Our operations in Poland recycled 24% of their waste whilst operations in the Middle East recycled 72% of their waste.

In the UK we continued to compost food waste at our Epsom and Bristol offices. The scheme has proved very successful with more than 20 tonnes of food waste diverted away from landfill and we are looking to extend this system to other key properties. We have also introduced online payslips reducing the need to print approximately 11,000 payslips every month.

In Sweden we have signed our first green lease to ensure that we maximise the environmental potential for the Stockholm office. All energy supplied now comes from renewable sources and agreements have been made with the landlord to reduce energy consumption and ensure that all waste is dealt with in the most environmentally responsible manner.