Sustainability
Supporting our communities, protecting the planet and delivering long-term value for a sustainable future.
Speak to an expert >Our planet and societies are facing enormous challenges. Our responsibility is to collaborate with our supply chain and industry partners to overcome these to leave a lasting, positive legacy for future generations. All our actions should ensure we are protecting the planet, supporting our communities and delivering long-term value for all our stakeholders. These are the pillars that drive our sustainability vision.
Our wider groups strap line of think exceptional is not an aspiration; it is a standard that we encourage our team to achieve. As an industry leader, we aim to progress further and continue to demonstrate how a business must operate to realise a sustainable future for all.
85%
Euro 6 plant
vehicles
72%
Hybrid electric
company vehicles
90%
Waste diverted
from landfill
To reduce environmental impacts, first, we needed to understand them. Since 2015, we have recorded and monitored our energy usage. We explore our operational energy use from buildings and fuel usage across our fleet and we record and measure this data.
Our main environmental impact is our fleet. With over 250 trucks, the sheer amount of diesel usage for our operations is unavoidable. However, this has not stopped us from trying. We engineer our trucks and plant so that we can make environmentally sound changes and follow the Green House Gas Emissions hierarchy.
Telematics has played an important role in efficient routing and in helping us to monitor driver behaviour. Our Training Academy has enabled us to train over 300 LGV drivers, which includes safe and fuel-efficient driving. We have also implemented a reward scheme for monitored driver behaviour. We have seen the results deliver substantial environmental benefits with a 7.75% reduction in emissions related to driving yearly, and 12% increase in Miles Per Gallon.
We are also focussing our concerns on waste and trying to understand the end-of-life of our products. An innovation that has come from this is our waste screening system for the temporary stud operation. It has managed to divert 90% of this waste stream away from landfills by separating the plastic studs from the original aggregate mixture.
Additionally, we have implemented in-office recycling initiatives, planned PPE recycling, as well as actively reusing certain materials.
Investing for the future is something we are very proud of here at WJ Group. We pioneer new, innovative technology and operating practices within the highways industry as part of our decarbonisation journey. It is through these we were able to gain the prestigious Planet Mark for the whole group.
Going ahead, we have plans achieve net zero operationally by 2032 through setting a science-based target. This aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As part of the WJ Group, we are committed to delivering sustainable solutions to support the growth and prosperity of our customers and surrounding communities. As a business, WJ Sunstone recognises and embraces the duty we have to minimise environmental disturbance and the overall impact of our vital work.
Value also must be created meaningfully, which is why our innovations do not only focus on efficiency but on a wide range of attributes. This can be seen in our production process where we have developed systems that reduce waste and maximise the resources used.
One example is the introduction of the WJ Robotic PreMarker, which can reduce the time needed to complete pre-marking activities by 96%. It also removes operatives from the potential hazardous carriageway for extended periods of time.
As a business, we understand our role in creating better societies. It is not just about the value of what we spend, but how we create the value. To truly understand our impacts, we have developed a social value calculation model that enables us to see the value our activities are creating within communities throughout the UK.
