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Infrastructure

Whether it is large scale rail projects, or improvements to our highways, sustainability plays an integral part of project delivery in infrastructure.

Sustainable infrastructure – supporting its delivery

Industry clients are facing increasingly tough environmental and social requirements on the largest pipeline of major infrastructure projects for decades.

Project investment over the next 20 years provides the industry with an opportunity to not only improve the transport, energy and utility infrastructure, but also to deliver significant reductions in environmental impacts and improvements in the value that society receives from this public investment.

Clients are demanding more sustainable practices; stakeholders are exerting more pressure and legislation is becoming increasingly stringent. As a result, the demand for supply chains to provide efficient, green and ethical solutions as normal business routine is increasing.

Many challenges

With tough UK carbon reduction targets in place, waste in resources provides negative impacts both from an environmental and an economic perspective.

Legislation, Government procurement policies, investor pressure and clients demands are causing organisations to fundamentally rethink their business models and the ways in which they operate. The Infrastructure Group brings together clients, Tier 1 contractors, specialist sub-contractors, suppliers and consultants to work in collaboration to address the unique range of challenges our industry faces today.

Excellence in this area is providing organisations within the supply chain an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors and work with more enlightened clients.

Net Zero strategies and Science Based Targets in the Infrastructure Sector

The infrastructure sector has a significant role to play in decarbonisation. In 2019, two-thirds of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the UK came from transport, energy, waste and wastewater infrastructure (1). It’s therefore crucial that client organisations set ambitious decarbonisation targets, but also that supply chain partners can understand and contribute towards achieving these targets.

This report, produced for the Infrastructure Group by Action Sustainability, set out to understand key themes in the carbon reduction strategies of client organisations and asks for suppliers – both to help clients understand where greater consistency and alignment could be created, and to provide suppliers with a simple guide on what they should expect when engaging with these organisations.

View the report

Supplier Development System – Creating a Sustainable Supply Chain

The Supply Chain School and National Highways have worked with prime contractor supplier partners to develop a Supplier Development System (SDS), available to all National Highways existing and potential suppliers.

Find out more and Enrol on the Supplier Development System

Latest infrastructure resources

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Energy and Carbon
Air Quality
Community

Key topics in infrastructure

These topics can have a serious impact on infrastructure and its supply chain. Find out more about each topic.

Topic
Energy and Carbon

Climate change is the biggest issue of our time and…

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Slavery
Topic
Modern Slavery

With an estimated 49.6 million victims worldwide, modern slavery is…

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social value
Topic
Social Value

Social Value is more important than ever and has a…

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Topic
Waste and Resource Efficiency

Changing the mindset from 'waste' to 'resources' and improving efficiency…

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“As an infrastructure partner in the School, we believe that working in partnership with our supply chain is the best way to make things happen at scale.”
Nathalie Ritchie, Supply Chain CSR Manager, National Grid
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