At Navarre London Limited, we are proud of our long history of being at the forefront of initiatives to make efficient use of materials, reduce construction site waste, reuse building materials and components, and to recycle as much construction and related waste as is practically possible

Navarre attained initial ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) accreditation way back in 2008, a challenging period when Environmental initiatives were being delayed and cancelled, across the board, as a casualty of the financial crisis. Despite limited funds, rudimentary Material Recovery Facility (M.R.F.) technology, reduced manpower, and general industry apathy in the face of the Great Recession, we were able to meet and surpass the very strict and stringent requirements for attaining 14001 with a UKAS accredited provider. In doing so we were able to gain significant experience in the fields of environmental management including waste management and recycling. This journey was engaged upon with perfection in mind. Our construction waste recycling rates have increased from 82% (2008), to 85% (2013) to 93% (2017) and on to where we are in 2024 – 97%. Working in partnership with our carefully selected and vetted waste management contractors, our ultimate goal is to get our recycling ratios up to as close to 100% as is humanly, or technologically possible. We believe that that advances in technology will allow this to come to pass, sooner, rather than later. This is a necessary goal, as, after all, there is no “Planet B”.

In 2022 Navarre London Limited obtained Eco-Vadis Gold Medal accreditation. The EcoVadis score reflects the quality of a company’s sustainability management system at the time of the assessment. This grading places us within the top 5% of all Organisations’ performance within the EcoVadis system over the previous 12 months. Our stated intention is to continue to undertake continuous improvement in this field to improve our Environmental Importance, with a major focus on mentoring smaller Organisations within our supply chain, by integrating them within our own training and toolbox talk programmes and providing administrative support in helping them to establish their own environmental and waste management goals.

In 2023 the process of obtaining verification of PAS 2050 was commenced. As is to be expected, the PAS 2050 compliance process has driven an intense focus within our Organisation on our Carbon Footprint, including the capturing of data relating to our day-to day activities, ancillary services and their related emissions. As of March 2024, we stand on the cusp of external verification demonstrating our adherence to the PAS 2050 standard. It is our goal to continue to partner with like-minded organisations within our supply chain in order to enhance and promote the de-carbonisation of the construction sector.

Navarre have had access to NEBOSH Diploma (Environmental Management) trained personnel for 14 years, and during this time have brought in mandatory in-house training for all staff in the field of Environmental Awareness. Our site teams have benefitted from an entire range of environment-oriented toolbox talks focussing upon topics such as: environmental awareness; environmental management; recycling; power and energy saving; water efficiency; hazardous substances; carbon emissions and reduction; pollution prevention; and waste reduction, to name but a few. Upcoming in-house training will focus upon carbon reduction planning, carbon sequestration, and products and material education.

The short-to medium term goals of the Organisation are heavily slanted towards decarbonisation, carbon reduction planning and carbon sequestration. Additionally, further efforts will continue to be made to glean extra percentage points in our recycling ratios.

In the longer term, the advent of Artificial Technology (A.I.) brings with it both potential challenges and opportunities. Anticipated challenges include: modification of the technology for waste management applications; using it to full benefit to reduce over-ordering of materials (optimisation); applying it to associated partner-run transport systems; and ensuring that the human element is viably and relevantly involved in life cycle process management. Opportunities which are being forecast include: reduction in waste through intelligent ordering systems; increased recycling ratios through advanced mechanisation of M.R.F.s. “Full life-cycle management” is anticipated to allow us to reduce material waste even further, re-assign materials, and to limit our Carbon Footprint through activity modification and planning. It is our firm belief that sustainability is an area which we need to work on as an industry, rather than merely as an Organisation, and that through collective action, we will be able to achieve a superior outcome.