Company Name: John Sisk and Son Ltd
Contact Person: Keith O’ Flynn
Industry Sector: Construction
TELL US IN TWO SENTENCES ABOUT YOUR COMPANY’S PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
Sisk is an innovative, international construction and engineering company delivering high-quality projects across Ireland, the UK and Europe. With a group turnover of over €2bn, Sisk is continuously expanding and evolving to meet the demands of our industry. We pride ourselves on innovation, quality, and a commitment to a sustainable future.
WHAT AND WHERE ARE THE BIGGEST PLASTICS ISSUES IN YOUR VALUE CHAIN?
Plastic packaging and plastic wrapping of materials is a major problem across the construction industry. It does a very practical and important job as the packaging protects materials while also securing them during transport. Unfortunately, the majority of packaging is single use plastics (SUP) so there are legitimate concerns about the environmental harm this causes. Large volumes of packaging waste also has a financial impact on businesses who must now deal with it as a waste.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN RPM PROGRAM?
Waste, including plastic packing, is a key issue for the construction industry and this was reinforced when Sisk undertook a materiality assessment to determine the more important material issues to the business. As a result, Sisk included specific waste targets in the company’s 2030 Sustainability Roadmap – Building today, Caring for tomorrow. These include:
- We will reduce our waste intensity by 50%, when measured against our 2019 baseline, by 2025
- All operations will be undertaken with Zero Avoidable Waste by 2028
- We will eliminate the use of single use plastics in all our operations by 2023
- We will successfully embed circular economy principles into strategic business planning by 2023.
By joining the RPM Program, Sisk have joined forces with an exciting leader in educating businesses across the globe in managing plastics correctly in industry. RPMs knowledge and background in compliance will be invaluable to Sisk in tackling some of the most difficult waste problems within the construction industry today, and helping the business achieve the targets outlined in the 2030 Sustainability Roadmap.
AT WHAT STAGE ARE YOU ON YOUR PLASTICS JOURNEY?
As outlined in Sisk’s Sustainability Roadmap the business has outlined plastics as a specific problem that needs to be addressed. Target 13 of the Sustainability Roadmap states that Sisk will eliminate the use of Single Use Plastics in all operations by 2023. As specified under the UK and EU regulations on the use of SUPs, Sisk has been able to completely remove these SUPs from operations Personal protective equipment (PPE) deliveries are also a source of SUPs and the business has engaged with suppliers to remove or eliminate the SUP at source, thus preventing it from arriving to projects.
However, there is still a significant amount of work to be done right across the industry and supply chain and by engaging with RPM and working with our supply chain we hope we can lead the way in addressing plastic management in a responsible and sustainable manner.
HAVE YOU SET A TARGET OR PLEDGE FOR IMPROVED PLASTIC MANAGEMENT BY 2025/2030?
As outlined in our 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, Sisk have specially identified the elimination of SUPs in all operations by 2023.
However more broadly, Sisk have a number of targets that actively address waste, of which plastic packaging is an important component of:
- We will reduce our waste intensity by 50%, when measured against our 2019 baseline, by 2025
- All operations will be undertaken with Zero Avoidable Waste by 2028
- We will eliminate the use of single use plastics in all our operations by 2023
- We will successfully embed circular economy principles into strategic business planning by 2023