Five-year strategy records a 33% reduction in carbon emissions, £153m social return on investment and major advances in resource efficiency and responsible sourcing Leading contractor Sir Robert McAlpine has announced the release of its new sustainability impact report, revealing how action across the business has delivered significant reductions in carbon and waste, strengthened responsible sourcing and created lasting social value for communities across the UK. Covering the period 2020-2025, ‘From Ambition to Impact’ charts the company’s progress in embedding sustainability into the way projects are designed, procured and delivered. The report captures the collective impact of people, projects and supply chain partners across four strategic pillars: Carbon, Resource Efficiency, Ethical Procurement and Social Value. Highlights include: Action across the business The results were delivered through thousands of decisions made across Sir Robert McAlpine’s projects and operations, supported by clearer standards, stronger governance, specialist capability and improved data. For carbon alone, over the five-year period, the company established its full Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon baseline; introduced carbon benchmarking across projects; rolled out Carbon Literacy training; expanded renewable energy use; developed Carbon Minimum Standards; and secured validation of its emissions targets from the Science Based Targets initiative. By 2025, 92% of its electricity came from renewable tariffs and 45% of the concrete used across the business was lower embodied carbon, exceeding a 30% target. Sir Robert McAlpine also became the first Tier 1 contractor to achieve PAS 2080 certification across its entire business. The certification provides independent assurance that robust systems, processes and technical expertise are in place to predict, manage and report whole-life carbon throughout the project lifecycle: ensuring they’re reducing their emissions and providing their clients with tangible carbon reduction solutions The transformation extended beyond carbon. A more structured approach has turned social value into a targeted and measured business deliverable. Every project is now expected to plan, pursue and report its contribution. Community Needs Assessments now enable project teams to target activity around local employment barriers, skills gaps and community priorities rather than defaulting to generic initiatives. In resource efficiency, the business progressed from retrospectively measuring waste to using digital tools, building information modelling and materials data to prevent waste at source. At 1 Broadgate, Sir Robert McAlpine helped deliver the UK’s first large-scale materials passport, enabling materials to be tracked for future reuse and repurposing. The project reclaimed 27% of materials for reuse and diverted more than 13,000 tonnes of non-hazardous demolition waste from landfill. From ambition to Sustainable Engineering Excellence The report also marks the transition to Sir Robert McAlpine’s new Sustainable Engineering Excellence strategy, which builds on the capability, evidence and lessons developed since 2020. Sustainable Engineering Excellence places sustainability at the heart of the company’s engineering and construction capability. Centred on carbon, circularity and social impact, it challenges teams to make better choices earlier, work more closely with clients and the supply chain, and focus expertise where it can create the greatest measurable impact. Simon Richards, Sustainability Director at Sir Robert McAlpine, said: “Five years ago, we set a clear ambition for the future of sustainability at SRM, and then we set about delivering it by embedding sustainability into how we design, procure and deliver. “The results in this report did not happen through isolated initiatives. They came from action across the business, with our people applying their expertise, challenging established approaches and making better decisions on projects every day. “We have built capabilities, systems and data that did not exist when we started, and created a strong foundation for Sustainable Engineering Excellence. Our next strategy takes everything we have learned and raises the bar again, helping us and our clients make choices that matter across carbon, circularity and social impact.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
