Understanding the materials you supply or are supplied with, how they are sourced, and the environmental impact they may have, is key to understanding how you can address these issues and ensure a transparent and ethical supply chain.

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. And through the introduction of legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act, investors, clients and contractors are including responsible sourcing criteria on their tender documents.