Every decision that is made today will have a major effect on what happens tomorrow. That is why John Sisk & Son has drafted its sustainability roadmap 2030, entitled Building Today, Caring for Tomorrow, in which the company has set itself some challenging goals in the sustainability space.
Sustainability is a “top-table agenda and a primary focus” for the construction firm and is considered in every decision stakeholders make, says Wayne Metcalfe, director of health, safety, sustainability and quality at Sisk.
“The report brings together in one place all the great work we have done across the sustainability agenda at Sisk and sets out our targets for the next 10 years and beyond. Fundamentally, it supports our value of care – we take care of ourselves, the people we work with, the environment and the community in which we work,” he says.
“It is built around five themes, all of which are interlinked. And what’s interesting is there is so much inter-relationship between them all. For example, our electric vehicle policy has a huge impact on air pollution and reducing toxins in the air. We get passionate about it as a company because by tackling one issue, we are fixing several others at the same time,” Metcalfe says.
In 2017 Sisk collectively reduced carbon intensity by 40 per cent: “That’s significant. We are not going to make strides like that every year so our road map is about continuing to make improvements.”
Some key objectives include tackling climate change and air pollution, caring for the environment, enhancing communities, leading on responsible business practice and embracing innovation and digital technology.
There are 20 targets within the plan. These include reducing the company’s carbon intensity by 25 per cent from the 2019 baseline by 2023 and achieving carbon neutral status in 2021 by offsetting its unavoidable emissions through internationally accredited carbon reduction schemes. Also, 50 per cent of the vehicles in its fleet will be electric by 2024 and Sisk will eliminate internal combustion engine powered vehicles from its company car fleet by 2030.
Innovation
“That’s not saying by 2030 we’re going to have an entirely battery-powered fleet because the speed of change in alternative fuel methods is so rapid that by then we might be looking at a combination of electric and hydrogen or something else that could emerge in the next few years. It’s about setting demanding targets but innovation is happening all the time, so it’s about being able to adopt new innovations quickly,” Metcalfe says.
Meanwhile, Sisk intends to plant 1.7 million trees as native woodland in Ireland, the UK and wider Europe by 2029. It will reduce its waste intensity by 50 per cent when measured against its 2019 baseline by 2025. And it will successfully embed circular economy principles into strategic business planning by 2023.
“It’s a journey. This is not something we’re going to fix overnight but is something we’re going to have to go at for a sustained period of time. The targets are aligned around net zero by 2050 and it’s important that we support the Government’s strategy in that.”
Getting stakeholders to stand behind the plan is paramount to achieving all objectives. “In March we carried out a survey asking stakeholders what is important to them and matching that with what’s important to us and we used that to inform the themes we’ve ended up with now. It’s engendering that buy-in and support. It’s much easier to get people to stand behind it when we’ve addressed what’s important to them as well, which is what we’ve done.”
In terms of leading the way in the industry, Metcalfe says sustainability is not something they should be competing on. “The industry has matured and has realised we should all be working together to fix the problems. When Covid hit, the industry came together in an unprecedented way and it is a huge lesson in what can be achieved so quickly. We are seeking to mobilise to that same level behind the sustainability agenda and we can do it,” he says.