Jewson supplier of timber and building materials hostes the third Green Procurement Group meeting

Jewson, the UK’s leading supplier of timber and building materials, has hosted the third Green Procurement Group meeting, which concluded with a firm commitment from its members to meet the Government-led Strategic Forum for Construction’s waste reduction targets by 2012. In particular the Green Procurement Group members focussed on how over the next three years they could work together to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in packaging on products within the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution (SGBD) supply chain.

The Green Procurement Group was formed in 2007 with the aim of delivering greater transparency and opening dialogue between companies throughout the supply chain to work together to achieve carbon, energy and waste reduction targets. Members include the Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP), Tarmac, Morgan Ashurst, Mansell, Shepherd Construction and Osborne. Previous collaboration across the group has seen the emergence of a significant initiative to re-use and recycle over 13,000 pallets each week within Jewson, which has recently been extended to include Mansell and is proving highly successful at reducing waste to landfill, as well as generating significant cost savings.

As Steve Millward, Jewson’s Sustainability and Quality Director and the Group’s architect, comments: "The third meeting is a huge step forward and the commitment from its members, all of which are leading industry figures, is extremely encouraging. We operate within one of the most waste-heavy industries and the agreed packaging reduction targets will produce considerable environmental advantages that will transform the way in which we all do business. The Group currently comprises a significant cross section of the supply chain including manufacturers, wholesale distributors, building contractors and Jewson, and as it continues to grow, we hope to attract support from clients, architects and designers."

Simon Wright, Sustainability Director at Mansell and a GPG member, adds: "The Green Procurement Group’s objectives are truly sustainable in that it seeks to meet environmental, economical and social goals; something that typical sustainability initiatives do not always achieve. From a contractor’s perspective, the Group provides a voice across a huge cross section of the supply chain and highlights what can be done when organisations work together. The Group’s results will undoubtedly be greater than the sum of its parts."

The next meeting will take place in November 2009. The GPG’s members also include: British Gypsum; Lafarge Cement; ITW Construction Products, Marshalls; SCA; Rockwool; Bipoly; Skanska and Sisk.