The construction sector has come out on top in a sustainability report into how companies in the UK source timber…
The World Wide Fund for Nature has revealed the UK construction sector has performed extremely highly in a comparison of how companies source timber.
The 2015 Timber Scorecard assessed 128 contractors, retailers, manufacturers, and traders that buy timber and timber products across the UK. Scores were calculated based on their publicly available buying policies, and how the companies performed from 2013 onwards.
Each company received a score based on how much progress had been made to ensure timber and timber products were sustainable. This ranged from zero trees, meaning no progress had been made, to three trees, which meant more than 70 per cent certified sustainable wood had been sourced.
When compared to other sectors, construction performed extremely well. The industry appeared within the top 40 per cent of those reviewed. The report noted construction firms “scored particularly well on overall commitment and on sustainable timber purchased”.
Within the sector contractors Carillion and Mace Group both scored the highest with three trees. Trade supply chain Travis Perkins and house building company Willmott Dixon received 2+ trees, while Balfour Beatty, Lend Lease, Skanska, and Redrow scored 2 trees.
Andrew Kinsey, sustainability director at Mace (which scored three trees), expressed his delight at the results. In an interview with Construction Manager he said: “We are very pleased to have received the top grade.
“While I expected Mace to score highly, as it reflects the due diligence we carry out on every project.
“We want to be a leader in sustainability as it matches our clients objectives, helps to protect the environment and local communities we source from, and is the right thing to do.”
Carillion’s chief sustainability officer, David Picton also commented, stating: “We are fully committed to the responsible sourcing of timber.
“Our projects and business units report quarterly on their timber usage, we support the WWF campaign and use timber from sources that meet Forest Stewardship Council standards.
“Timber reporting is embedded in our 2020 Sustainability Leadership Plan, and we are working with our suppliers to encourage them to meet the same standards.”
While the construction sector achieved excellent result the picture was not as good for the rest of the UK. The report revealed 57 per cent of companies reviewed had low scores and showed “very limited or no action being taken to ensure the timber products they sell are not contributing to illegal logging or deforestation”.
