Over 800 suppliers attended Tarmac’s first Supplier Sustainability Week, a four-day virtual event that ran from 27 to 30 September.
The aim of the event was to improve collaboration between Tarmac and its suppliers, to collectively build towards the capability needed for the industry to reach net zero.
It is one in a series of initiatives that Tarmac is hosting, with its key stakeholders, to deliver on its new sustainability strategy and contribute to achieving the government’s net zero targets by 2050.
The initiative builds on the company’s long term sustainability programme which, over the last five years, has seen it successfully cut CO2 by 24% per tonne of product since 1990 and reuse, recycle and recover 50 million tonnes of waste, from other sectors, for use as fuel or as a constituent material in the manufacture of its products.
Jonathan Harry, procurement director for Tarmac, said: “Thank you to all our partners that took part in our Supplier Sustainability Week. The feedback we’ve received from people that attended the event has been extremely positive – with partners keen to take practical steps to reduce carbon emissions across our downstream activities.
“We look forward to a long and lasting relationship with suppliers where we can work together, sharing expertise and insight, to drive the innovation needed throughout the value chain that will help us to achieve our sustainability targets and reach net zero.”
Peter Buckley, senior vice president at Tarmac, launched the event and explained that the company wants to be a customer of choice for suppliers – with the event providing an opportunity to explore innovative sustainability ideas that could be shared amongst the industry and passed on to customers. Watch the launch film here.
The event was made up of 15 sessions, which included:
- Category managers from across Tarmac’s business units delivering 10 ‘expert views’ – covering topics ranging from sustainable packaging to the transition to renewable energy.
- A de-carbonisation club, attended by Banners Contracts, Chryso, Hayley, KKB Group, Lieber, LKAB Minerals, Puma Energy DB Schenker, Shell, Squeaky Energy and Wirtgen, and which was launched in preparation for a series of carbon value creation workshops planned for later in the year.
- A supplier innovation challenge 2020/21, won by RKW Group for its sustainable packaging – finalists included Chepstow Plant International LTD, Hayley, Jokey, Peak, Renault Trucks and Urban Volt.
- Three ‘deep dive’ sessions on understanding net zero, the transition to renewable energy and supply-chain sustainability school.
Over the course of the event, Tarmac welcomed 21 different presenters, produced 10 hours of content, and delivered 595 hours (around three and a half weeks) of learning.
The company plans to host a series of de-carbonisation workshops over the coming months and has launched the 2021/22 supplier innovation challenge.
Watch the event highlights here.
For more on sustainability at Tarmac, visit the dedicated website pages and view the 2020 report.
