Resource Use & Sustainability

Resource Use

Resource extraction and processing produce 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and 90 per cent of biodiversity loss.

Reducing the use of primary raw materials

Water, concrete and metals are integral to delivering infrastructure. One of our priorities is to work with our partners to use fewer resources during the design and engineering phase of our projects and use more recycled and reused materials.

Reducing waste from construction and maintenance

We regularly monitor each asset’s management of water and waste. Half of our assets have implemented a waste prevention and reduction plan. Four of our projects in construction have achieved reuse and recycling rates of over 90 per cent – using initiatives such as reuse of crushed concrete. These include initiatives such as the use of recycled materials to modernise the I-75 road in Michigan.

Case study

Reducing waste on the I-75

About 90 per cent of road construction works are maintenance and network reconstruction works, while only 10 per cent are new infrastructure construction works. Improving maintenance can contribute substantially to the circular economy by reducing the use of raw materials, recovering a high proportion of demolition waste and enhancing the durability of renewed road elements. In our I-75 project in the US, where main road elements are demolished or removed, 70 to 100 per cent of non-hazardous waste is prepared and collected for re-use and recycling. For example, existing pavement is used for new road construction and existing asphalt for the tunnel site. Meanwhile, steel from demolition is used on the project or for other steel products in southeast Michigan.

Converting waste to avoid emissions

East Rockingham, an Energy from Waste plant in construction in Australia, will convert 300,000 tonnes of waste per year to provide energy for homes and businesses. Methane emissions from landfill have ~25 times the atmospheric heating potential of CO2, therefore by avoiding these methane emissions there is a net environmental benefit for Energy from Waste plants.