Using sustainable materials to reduce your sustainability impact
The UK construction industry uses more than 400 million tonnes of materials every year, making it the nation’s largest consumer of natural resources. So it’s important to reduce the impact of materials used, and address issues including:
- Assessing embodied impacts of materials
- Lifecycle impact consideration
- Exploring the advantages of recycled or secondary materials
In addition to environmental considerations, there is now a greater emphasis on organisations to embed ethical practice within their supply chain dealings. Through the introduction of legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act, investors, clients and contractors are including responsible sourcing criteria on their tender documents.
What is responsible sourcing?
Responsible sourcing is demonstrated through an ethos of supply chain management and product stewardship, which encompasses social, economic and environmental dimensions. It also addresses aspects such as, stakeholder engagement, labour practices and the management of supply chains serving materials sectors upstream of the manufacturer.
Responsible sourcing of construction products provides a holistic approach to managing a product from the point at which a material is mined or harvested (in its raw state) through manufacture and processing. It also monitors the use, re-use and recycling process, until its final disposal as waste with no further value.
BES 6001: The Benefits & Challenges of Sourcing Materials
What are the benefits and advantages of responsibly sourced materials as a business? – e.g., meeting client needs/reducing risk of reputational damage/mitigating environmental risks. What were the supply chain challenges faced in getting the supply chain to adopt the standard and how to overcome this.
Materials
Life Cycle Analysis and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
Video
5 minutesMaterials
Introduction to Materials
E-learning module
Materials
Lower Carbon Concrete
E-learning module
Waste and Resource Efficiency
Protocol for reusing structural steel
Document/Presentation
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