For many companies within the building industry, agendas like environmental sustainability and diversity and inclusion have become simply buzzwords to display on corporate websites. To us, this couldn’t be further from reality. As a leading supplier to the construction industry, the Travis Perkins Group recognises the impact our activities have on the natural and built environment and society. We take our responsibilities to lead on this agenda very seriously.
Sustainability is a broad term, so we’ve shared some insights into how we are driving towards a safer and greener future through a selection of key topics below.
The journey towards Net Carbon Zero
As the UK's largest builders merchant, we operate a large fleet and property estate, source and sell hundreds of thousands of products, and contribute to some of the most well-known construction projects. We know the scale of our footprint, and therefore we have announced a challenging, but achievable 1.5-degree aligned carbon target by 2035.
Currently, 100% of the energy we use across our UK sites comes from renewable sources, and measures are in place to optimise our 4,000 vehicles by utilising fleet management systems. We have introduced the UK's first electric curtain-sided HGV, and we have scaled up our trial of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a replacement fuel for diesel vehicles (reducing carbon by over 90% for those vehicles). We are also installing more energy-efficient solutions and renewable systems such as LED Lighting, electric vehicle charging points, air source heat pumps and solar panels.
Although we have a big job to decarbonise our fleet and estate, in fact, 99% of our carbon footprint comes from our supply chain (primarily due to the manufacturing of the products we sell and the carbon impact of those products in use). We are therefore working closely with our suppliers to reduce carbon in the products that we distribute, and advising our customers to make sustainable choices.
Responsible sourcing
We are committed to ensuring that all the products we source and sell are of the right quality, and have been sourced from known, trusted, ethical and sustainable suppliers, such as certified timber suppliers.
Our centrally-controlled suppliers of products for resale go through a due diligence process, and since 2008 we have published clear expectations for our suppliers, constantly working with them to ensure they are upheld.
Waste management
In order to offer customers more sustainable solutions, we have a significant role to play in removing waste from our supply chain.
In 2021, over 95% of the waste we generated across the Group was diverted from landfill, and we are continuously working with Biffa to increase this to 100%, plus eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic by 2025.
In addition, to comply with the new plastic tax (April 2022), we are working with suppliers to ensure that any plastic packaging we import contains at least 30% recycled content.
Sustainable products and services
Customers often tell us they need support on sustainable operations and sustainable construction and we are committed to supporting them with the information, products and services they need to help modernise and decarbonise the industry.
In practical terms this means providing customers with innovative products, more information on products (for example embodied carbon or percentage recycled content) and value-add services which help them to be more sustainable, build more sustainably or track sustainability progress. We’re being asked for logistics solutions to support offsite construction, best practice sharing on sustainability, and much more.
Be a part of the change
We want to be among the most sustainable businesses in the UK, not to have the accolade, but to truly make a difference in the future of our planet. Do you want to be part of this transformation? If so, we want to hear from you.
Everyone in our business has a critical role in decarbonising products, the supply chain and the built environment and strengthening our social sustainability to ensure we are a sustainable business. Whether you are an apprentice, a branch manager, a driver or a software engineer, we all have to make commitments. If you’ve been inspired by our journey towards a cleaner, greener and more socially-just tomorrow, browse our available full-time and part-time jobs today and build your career with us.
