Environmental Commitment

Devon Contractors takes the impact our business has on our environment very seriously. Based in the heart of the glorious South West countryside, with our entire workforce living in Devon and Cornwall, we do everything we can to ensure our green and pleasant land remains unspoilt. This applies especially to our site operations, but equally to our office and transportation activities.

We subscribe to the Devon Local Agenda 21 Action Plan and the Cornwall Structure Plan, and in particular, pledge to operate with a general policy of sustainable development and wherever possible design and construct our buildings with the smallest environmental impact possible, which includes that to the local community.

We pledge to:~

• Procure our temporary construction materials and those used in the fabric of the buildings from sustainable and registered sources where possible.

• Use local subcontractors, labour and suppliers where available to minimise transportation and travel emissions.

• Arrange delivery times to cause the smallest disruption possible to the neighbouring residents and businesses.

• Prior to starting on site, produce a comprehensive waste management plan tailored for each individual project. This includes how we expect to monitor our waste as well as how to recycle or dispose of it responsibly.

• Include the cost of site waste management within our preliminaries.

• Aim that our buildings have a lifespan of several generations.

• Actively seek accreditation for each of our sites with the considerate constructors scheme, and arrange consultations with the local community as is appropriate to each individual construction scheme.

The Environment and our business

• Within our offices, we regularly review our energy footprint and do what we can to keep it as small as possible.

• We have custom-configured energy settings on all our office computers, printers and electrical lighting systems.

• Our offices were designed to maximise the usage of natural daylight and ventilation, so that heating and air conditioning is needed in only the most adverse of weather conditions.

• Our administration is becoming increasingly paperless, which not only reduces our printing operations, but also allows our staff to work remotely via the internet which has saved many journeys to and from the office.

Ink Recycling Initative 

We now recycle 100% of our office printer toners once they are empty, and our waste toner bottles once they are full. Our Dell toners are returned to Dell where they are refilled and re-used, and all our other toners and bottles are recycled with the The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation through recycling appeal.