Construction and support services group Interserve will commit to reducing water use by 20 per cent by 2016 as part of a business-wide sustainability plan.

The plan, called ‘SustainAbilities’, establishes clear and measurable targets for Interserve and its workforce of more than 50,000 people. It sets out 48 targets phased between 2014 and 2020, with the performance measured against four capitals: Natural Capital, Social Capital, Knowledge Capital and Financial Capital.

Some targets have to be met by next year, including using only sustainable forest products and increasing the re-use of construction waste by 15 per cent.

By 2016 Interserve aims to achieve a 20 per cent cut in water use, reduce construction waste by 25 per cent and reduce emissions from business travel and energy use at construction sites by 30 per cent.

Two years later, Interserve hopes to increase recycled content in materials by 50% as well as have at least ten co-designed energy security projects underway.

By the end of the decade, Interserve will introduce ‘wellbeing’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) into contracts as well as halving its carbon emissions.

Interserve said the plan provides a detailed framework for the firm to deliver its services in a way that has a beneficial impact on society and the environment, in-turn delivering sustainable growth and profit to shareholders. The framework emphasises the role of knowledge, alongside the more traditional measures of sustainability as central to its success.

Tim Haywood, Interserve's Group Finance Director and Head of Sustainability, said:

"We have set out today an ambitious and radical plan for the rest of this decade that is designed to challenge our management, our staff and our partners. As one of the UK's largest employers, working hand-in-hand on a daily basis with both the public and the private sector, we are only too aware of our broad responsibilities to society and the environment around us.

"The plan announced today puts sustainability at the forefront of our decision-making. It will define how we work, the decisions that we take as a business and create a new culture among our employees and management. It will be critical to our future success as a business."

Tony Juniper, one of the UK's leading sustainability thinkers, was involved in the development of the plan in his capacity as a co-founder of The Robertsbridge Group. He said:

"Through the launch of their new SustainAbilities plan, Interserve is showing how sustainability can increasingly be linked to a company's business strategy and financial performance.

"This is the first time a company in the construction and support services industry has explicitly sought to develop and apply four forms of capital in this way. We have been impressed by the executive level commitment to developing this plan."

Interserve has joined 90 other businesses in the International Integrated Reporting Council's (IIRC) Pilot Programme to further advance communication of value-relevant sustainability information to investors and stakeholders.