Sustainability

We have an important role in building tomorrow’s world. We shape the built environment, innovate and search for sustainable solutions to ensure we leave a positive legacy.

Our sustainability focus

Our vision to be the most trusted and socially responsible construction company, that people are proud to work with, means our sustainability approach acts as the golden thread to achieving this.

We focus on the key aspects where we believe we can provide the most significant impact for our people, clients and the communities we work with.

Our approach is summarised in our 3 C’s of sustainability:

Sustainability graphic

The nature of our activities means we have a big part to play in managing and reducing our overall carbon emissions as well as supporting our supply chain partners to do the same.

Carbon

The Carey Group are pleased to announce that our greenhouse gas emissions reduction target has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The SBTi’s Target Validation team has classified our scope 1 and 2 target ambition and has determined that it is in line with a 1.5°C trajectory and commends our ambitious target, currently the most ambitious designation available through the SBTi process.

The SBTi assessed our submission against the Call to Action’s eligibility criteria and, after careful review, has approved the targets.

In 2022 The Carey Group’s Carbon reduction targets were validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). Science-based targets provide a clearly-defined pathway for companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, helping prevent the worst impacts of climate change and future-proof business growth. More than 4,000 businesses around the world are already working with the Science Based Targets initiative.

Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with what the latest climate science deems necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.

Since the validation of our targets, we’ve been measuring and tracking our performance annually, while implementing initiatives to reduce our carbon impacts and are pleased to share the progress we’ve made against our targets to date:

We committed to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by FY2030 from a FY2019 base year : As of October 2023, we have reduced our absolute Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 52%.

We committed to reduce absolute scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services by 50% within the same time frame: As of October 2023, we have reduced our scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services by 36%

We still have a long way to go to achieve our targets and must continue to consider and reduce carbon in all that we do as a business. While our company has reduced its turnover between our base year and FY23, which has partly contributed to our overall reduction, there are a number of initiatives adopted across the Group that have contributed to our performance where we must continue to drive improvements, these include;

  • A reduction in our diesel consumption as a business, including the transitioning of our own HGV fleet to sustainably certified Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) which has a 90% lower carbon footprint than ordinary diesel.
  • Commencing alignment of our energy supplies to certified renewable tariffs
  • Continuing to utilise more electric and battery-operated tools on our sites and starting the process of renewing our Plant & Fleet for newer, more efficient alternatives.
  • Our sites working closely with our supply chain and clients to lower our carbon impact, through the selection of lower embodied carbon materials such as concrete, plasterboard, and steel reinforcement

The Carey Group plans to make a CDP Climate disclosure of our FY 2023 performance in 2024

Validation of our science-based targets would not have been possible without the expertise and support of Trio Energy Group, we thank them for all their hard work.

Sustainability is the ‘golden thread’ that weaves through our company Strategy. To achieve our vision of becoming the most trusted and socially responsible construction company that people as proud to work with, setting an externally validated set of targets associated with our carbon reduction ambition is a massive leap forward.

We know that this is only the start of our journey to net zero but recognise and take our responsibility seriously. Actions are greater than words and we believe this sets out our stall in terms of our beliefs and aspirations in the positive part we will be playing and the impact we will be having now and in the future in our industry.

Jason Carey, CEO, The Carey Group

Case study - Electric hand tools

Our in-house Engineering and Innovation Forum undertook extensive research on petrol free alternative hand tools available on the market. This resulted in the recommendation of a number of viable alternatives which are being tested.

Careys recognise the impact of our actions on carbon emissions and are looking at various ways to use plant, equipment and technology to assist our mission to reduce emissions. It may only be a small contribution but every little helps.

We have been trialling alternatives across a number of sites with 11 of our project sites operate with no petrol. Marble Arch Place became one of the first sites to implement the change and the project manager commented:

"At first, understandably, the team was sceptical about using non-petrol tools – especially for the more heavy-duty work. However, after testing and trialling a range of tools on-site for over a year now, there has been no negative feedback from the team at all. The Plant & Fleet team offers a petrol-free alternative for every petrol tool we’ve used, and I’m pleased to say that, as a result, there is absolutely no petrol stored or used on our site any longer. This has enormous benefits – both in terms of improving our environmental impact and also reducing the risks our team is exposed to at work."

We know it’s vital that we do our part to protect the natural environment from degradation and pollution and we look to leave a positive impact from our works.

Compliance+

This starts with working in accordance with the requirements of our ISO14001 Environmental Management System as a minimum and ensuring best practice across all areas of our operations.

We are working through the Compliance+ component of our sustainability approach to ensure that we develop verbal and visual standards which identify the our minimum standards, much in the same way as our health and safety approach. This will set the bar for our exemplary performance and ensure we go far beyond mere legal compliance.

Case study – Award winning innovation at Ford Dagenham site

We were principal contractor at the Ford Dagenham site tasked with demolishing a 20 hectare, 1930’s car plant whilst raising the ground level by 2m. Sensitive sustainability aspects included the movement and treatment of large amounts of materials, whilst in close proximity to sensitive receptors. 80 years of industrial use on the site had left a legacy of heavy hydrocarbon, heavy metal and VOC contamination.

A state of the art Aggstorm 60 soil washing plant was purchased for the site meaning contaminated soil did not have to leave site. The soil washing plant processed 750t of soil per day, separating metals for recycling and cleaning the rest into reusable aggregate of various sizes. The site also invested in an onsite soil laboratory to enable same day testing of contaminated soil and to issue test certificates confirming the reusability of the remediated material.

This collaborative approach led to the project being awarded the Environmental Innovation award at the British Demolition Awards in 2019.

We engage with the communities that we work in and around, with the ultimate goal of leaving a positive lasting legacy.

Community

Creating value for our communities is something we are passionate about, whether that’s through open employment, apprenticeships, trainee and work experience opportunities. We also look to provide opportunities for local organisations including small to medium enterprises, charities and social enterprises as well as training and support where applicable.

Careys are beginning to also define and quantify the added social value on projects. Giving back to the community is something that Careys has been committed too, long before the concept of social value. Through the Careys Foundation, we have for a number of years, taken pride in our approach to helping others. Find out more here

Examples of the typical initiatives we implement include:

Time:

Each Careys employee has a paid day a year to volunteer with the charity of their choice. Operatives are also given additional paid time off to participate in the communities local to their sites, including community initiatives and volunteering for the site’s nominated charities.

  • In Battersea we spent 26 days building a ball court for residents of the Savona Estate, after consultation with residents over which sports they would love to play. The new court is used for multiple games and is fully wheelchair accessible.
  • In Macclesfeld we donated two weeks of labour to clear the overgrown grounds of a school for disabled children and create a new wheelchair-accessible garden.
Ball Court

Materials:

At a former site in Chelsea, we spent six weeks of volunteer labour and used leftover plywood, cable drums, and paint to revamp a primary school playground. We created a range of fun and bright play equipment including a mud kitchen, a mushroom table, and bedding boxes for the children to grow plants.

We worked with Community Wood Recycling, a social enterprise which aims to save resources and create work and training for local disadvantaged people. The impact of the scheme included 190 paid jobs for local people.

Money:

When working for Balfour Beatty at Runnymede, our team helped the Royal Legion by soft-stripping a premises they had bought and planned to use as their new headquarters.

Our team at Grosvenor Square completed the Three Peaks Challenge and raised £4,800 in aid of the project’s local branch of MIND, the mental health charity and the site’s nominated charity.

The Careys team at Dagenham has raised £21,435 for their nominated charity, Richard House Children’s Hospice over a 14-month period.

Ethical supply chains

We are working hard to ensure we select and use materials in an ethical and responsible manner. This applies to materials we procure directly and through our supply chain partners and subcontractors.

This means that all products and services supplied are produced under a set of internationally acceptable environmental, social and ethical guidelines and standards. We use tools like Sedex to communicate minimum standards as well as validate those of our supply chain.

Construction products and materials:

All timber products supplied for either temporary or permanent inclusion in Careys works are certified as legally and sustainability sourced through the two schemes PEFC (License number PEFC/16-37-1913) and Forest Stewardship Council ® (Licence number FSC-C128566) (FSC®).

Careys chain of custody certification for the Group covers wood for construction, indoor furniture, outdoor furniture and gardening operations.

FSC diagram

For all other construction materials and products, Careys supports the procurement of these components from supply chain partners who can demonstrate a recognised responsible sourcing scheme.

The two recognised schemes currently are:

BES6001 – Framework standard for responsible sourcing of Construction Products, including compliant schemes like Eco-Reinforcement.

BS8902 – Membership of a sector specific scheme that complies to BS8902, verified by a third party. E.g. Cares.

Minimum standards of ethical performance can be identified through:

  • Membership of and active participation in schemes like the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).
  • Sectoral schemes such as TFT Responsible Stone Programme or the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI).
  • SA8000 certification.

Furthermore, the Carey Group works closely with the supply chain to tackle and combat the threat of human trafficking and modern -day slavery in the construction industry.

Our modern slavery statement can be seen here

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