On Thursday 22 November we joined over 40 other organisations to become signatories of the Waste to Wealth Commitment at the Waste to Wealth Summit, an event convened by Business in the Community – The Prince’s Responsible Business Network.
The pledge will help collectively double the nation’s resource productivity and reduce avoidable waste by 2030 (supercharging the UK Industrial Strategy’s 2050 targets).
Our Managing Director Simon Carr joined over 200 other leaders from business, government, academia and civil society to tackle the challenges of climate change and the destruction of natural habitats. The event took place at Veolia Southwark’s integrated waste management facility in London and was attended by HRH The Prince of Wales who delivered a keynote address. The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, delivered a speech detailing how the government will support businesses which are stepping up to this challenge.
By signing the Waste to Wealth Commitment, we recognise that we only have 12 years to change our relationship with the resources we use to avoid catastrophic climate change and restore the health of our environment. Therefore, we are committing to the following actions:
- Set targets to improve the productivity of resources that are key for our business
- Work collectively towards doubling the nation’s resource productivity and reduce avoidable waste by 2030, contributing in the way that is most relevant to their business
- Redesign how resources are used in our products, services and operations
- Collaborate across our organisations, value chains and sectors
- Reconvene and report on progress annually to share learning and demonstrate results
Henry Boot Construction has demonstrated leadership and commitment to tackle systemic challenges by signing up to the Waste to Wealth Commitment. 2030 is a critical year if we are to ensure we have an environment in which business and communities can flourish. The risks of inaction are enormous, but so too are the opportunities that could be created from a prosperous and resilient, low carbon economy. We must make the most out of precious resources, waste as little as possible and find ways of turning the waste we do create into new wealth. We welcome other organisations to sign up to the Waste to Wealth Commitment and take action to solve this critical problem.
Gudrun Cartwright, Environment Director at Business in the Community
