Last year GW Highways set itself the monumental task of becoming the first UK highways contractor to go carbon neutral across its entire business operations. Promise made, promise delivered. It is now certified carbon neutral in accordance with PAS 2060:2014 – the recognised international standard for carbon neutrality. Even more inspiring, this Kent-based outfit is only just getting started. Dominic Browne reports.
GW Highways’ achievement of carbon neutrality is the culmination of more than two years of work from initial scoping, footprinting, carbon calculating and validation, to identifying and delivering carbon reduction in collaboration with customers and the supply chain, and beyond this securing offsetting opportunities.
As a PAS 2060-aligned business, the company is committed to reducing emissions, monitoring progress through annual certification and using high quality carbon offsetting.
Term services director David Gibbins says: ‘We are the only infrastructure business fully accountable for scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across all our UK operations. It is now a big part of our corporate identity. There is a shift within the business that has changed our culture in order to support the sector with sustainable infrastructure. Selective reporting of scope 3 emissions is widespread and a poor approach that the industry must deal with. I see too many reports that have no credibility when it comes to accurate carbon accounting and the industry needs to change this approach rapidly under real leadership.’
For GW Highways, carbon neutrality is the first major milestone in a longer decarbonisation plan that has already been mapped out. The ultimate goal is to achieve organisational net zero before 2050, which would see it only rely on carbon offsetting for unavoidable, or residual emissions as a last resort. The management team at GWH maintains that the technology is not currently available to support net zero immediately, but it has made a long-term commitment and, in the meantime, has refused to do nothing.
Mr Gibbins says: ‘While we continue to reduce emissions from our activities, we support the immediate ambitions to accelerate net zero and have looked at the voluntary carbon market to mitigate our climate impact today. Until there is a clear strategy, we are doing this by offsetting our remaining emissions in a way that supports communities around the world and the global transformation of our economy.
‘The selection criteria for offsetting is equally important. We select projects that contribute towards the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and deliver reductions in emissions that are verified by a third party. These projects see that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of social needs, including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities while tackling climate change and protecting the environment.
'Finally, it is important to remember that offsetting is the last part of the process, and the fundamental principle still looks at measuring, reducing, and then offsetting with an ongoing strategy for carbon reduction year on year. As renewable energy and alternative products come online, we will be able to reduce GW Highway’s reliance on offsets over time as part of its net zero transition.’
There are a number of targets coming up for GW Highways. The first is to publish a roadmap to net zero this year, then by 2025 have its carbon management systems accredited to PAS 2080, the global standard for managing infrastructure carbon, and by 2030 to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from a 2021 baseline.
Along the way, it is developing a tool to measure the carbon footprint of individual schemes under its road asset renewal contract for Kent County Council.
Mr Gibbins says: ‘We recruited extensively within the business to deliver on these ongoing commitments, and we now apply an internal carbon price (ICP) to new works in order to support the transition to net zero.’
One of the key moments in the story so far was a workshop GW Highways hosted for its supply chain to brainstorm new ideas for carbon reduction. The sight of experienced highway workers gathering around tables trying to save the ecosystem was genuinely emotive, not to mention productive.
‘Within three months of the carbon reduction workshop, we had implemented changes that reduced our annual carbon output by as much as 9%,’ Mr Gibbins says, adding that the process has also supported the supply chain with its transition.
Highways director Luke Wenham says: ‘We have already implemented key opportunities that came from the carbon reduction workshop such as reducing empty legs by using the asphalt delivery lorries to backhaul planings/reclaimed asphalt product to reduce our lorry movements, which account for 17% of our carbon. Also, this is recycled into the asphalt products being delivered to our site. This in turn reduces the percentage of virgin aggregate needed. We have worked with Hanson UK to make these changes.’
It was the contract win with Kent CC that provided the first springboard for the carbon neutral venture and since then GW Highways has only progressed. It recently won a £37m maintenance contract with Brent Council in London – a key foothold in the capital’s competitive highways market. In fact, it outgrew its old offices and chose Kings Hill in Kent as the home of its head office. The move, which will see it consolidate its Ashford and Maidstone offices while retaining its depots in Headcorn and Brent, is indicative of the expansion the company is undergoing, something supported by its sustainable credentials.
Bid director Nick Boland says: ‘The fact GWH are PAS 2060-aligned is important to our existing customers and new customers alike. Clients are now recognising the importance of emissions and the impacts the highways sector has on the environment. As the industry becomes more conscious of the need to reduce our impact, we anticipate that our being certified will provide confidence to new clients in our commitment to the environment.’
The management team also highlights that its carbon credentials help with partnering work across the sector, as other companies and clients prioritise an accelerated timeline to net zero.
In general, it has changed GWH’s approach to the market and its own operations. IMS & compliance manager Louise Clarke says: ‘The process has shown we can increase our ability to recycle and reduce our carbon footprint by trialing alternative products. We are currently recycling 100% of our asphalt waste. This has all been made possible through calculating our carbon footprint and researching alternative products. We work with both our supply chain and clients to consider alternatives prior to agreeing to our work. The process has increased our ability to use items which can be recycled at end of life or use recycled materials and by-products of other materials to remove waste from our atmosphere.’
Pictured below: GW Highways headquarters in Kings Hill in Kent
GW Highways works with the Carbon Trust – which has two decades of experience in providing expert guidance on climate action – to verify its work against the PAS 2060 specification.
Dominic Burbridge, director of climate risk and net zero at the Carbon Trust, says: ‘The work GW Highways has carried out so far to engage their supply chain on carbon reduction highlights the importance of collaboration in reducing the impact of business on the climate.’
GW Highways is also now working with Climate Impact Partners: a specialist in the voluntary carbon markets. Climate Impact Partners sources sustainable infrastructure projects verified to leading international standards that support renewable energy and decrease dependence on fossil fuels.
Natalie Taylor, director, client solutions at Climate Impact Partners, explains: ‘Our joined-up approach helps organisations like GW Highways address their environmental impacts through high-quality carbon market solutions that also deliver positive impact for nature and local communities.’
Looking back on achieving PAS 2060, Mr Gibbins gives the following advice: ‘Start now and clearly understand baseline emissions – perhaps even refocus the strategy on more immediate timelines. Whichever way we look at it, 2050 is a long way off so we are really trying to focus on this decade and the reduction targets that can be realised before 2030. New technologies, alternative energy, and renewables will all have an increased use in the short to mid-term, but it is fundamental to understand how reductions can be realised through ECI, design etc. and capitalise on these now.’
He adds: ‘Our view is that the opportunities in the circular economy can be broadened and represent the biggest reductions in indirect CO2 – we recognise that aggregates in reclaimed asphalt show little ageing and are mechanically and geometrically within the quality ranges of new material.’
The great achievement of GW Highways shows that despite our sector’s (very reasonable) risk adverse reputation and its (well earned) maturity, there is a new age of discovery in infrastructure. This has huge social and commercial implications but also, for those willing to step into the unknown, it is a source of genuine adventure every day you go to work.
Embrace it as GW Highways has and there will be better roads and a better tomorrow.
Picture credit: GREEN HIGHWAY by ver0nicka shutterstock_421748896
