The announcement forms part of the company’s 2016 Annual Sustainability Report, published today and available to read here. In the report WSP sets out a series of goals for the future of the business, including:
Become carbon neutral by 2025
Reduce business travel and commuting carbon emissions by 17% per capita by 2020
Reduce energy use per square metre by 16% by 2020
Ensure zero waste to landfill by 2020
WSP has also restructured how it delivers corporate social responsibility and sustainability with Claire Gott MBE the UK head of corporate responsibility and David Symons the UK director of sustainability. WSP’s sustainability offering revolves around its flagship “Future Ready” programme, which helps clients to design for future trends as well as today’s standards.
As part of the restructure WSP has launched its WSP Foundation, which consolidates several charitable funding platforms (that currently support 80 UK charities) into one.
Another target WSP has set itself is for 1,000 days of volunteering a year to be undertaken by 800 people. All WSP employees are eligible to take up to two volunteering days a year, with 645 colleagues using nearly 800 days in 2016 to help their local communities. Elsewhere in 2016, WSP saw its total carbon emissions down by 9%, office energy use and paper use down by 10% and achieved a recycling rate of 93%.
Mike Rogerson, WSP UK COO, said: “We are practising what we preach. Clients and colleagues alike say that they want to be ready for the future. That they want to be part of creating a prosperous, sustainable, resilient economy. There’s no better way to demonstrate how this is possible than by going carbon neutral ourselves by 2025. This is something we regularly help clients to achieve through designing renewable energy systems, ambitious energy reduction programmes, and sector initiatives such as the Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme.
“Within our business we are already making great strides here with emissions down 9% in 2016 and our WSP Foundation provides a robust platform to help the charities we support and the communities we work in to thrive.”
Notes to editors
For media enquiries please contact [email protected]
WSP is one of the world's leading engineering professional services consulting firms. We are dedicated to our local communities and propelled by international brainpower. We are technical experts and strategic advisors including engineers, technicians, scientists, architects, planners, surveyors and environmental specialists, as well as other design, program and construction management professionals. We design lasting solutions in the Property & Buildings, Transportation & Infrastructure, Environment, Industry, Resources (including Mining and Oil & Gas) and Power & Energy sectors as well as project delivery and strategic consulting services.
With 7,800 talented people in the UK and more than 42,000 globally, we engineer projects that will help societies grow for lifetimes to come. WSP has been involved in many high profile UK projects including the Shard, Crossrail, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Manchester Metrolink, M1 Smart Motorway, the re-development of London Bridge Station, and the London Olympic & Paralympic Route Network. www.wsp.com/uk