Tarmac Supplier Innovation Challenge 2023

Tarmac held its fourth annual Innovation Challenge in 2023, which was open to existing and new suppliers, university teams, and any organisation or individual with an idea to support the acceleration of our journey to net zero.

For 2023’s challenge, entrants were encouraged to submit ideas on circularity, focusing on new technologies, innovations and solutions which are or have the potential to be ready for integration, to further drive the business’ circular economy ambitions.

This year, Tarmac received 26 innovative ideas, which were scored against criteria including technology readiness, potential business impact, and feasibility, by a cross business judging panel. The winning and highly commendable entries are refined, developed and brought to life by Tarmac as part of the scheme.

Jonathan Harry, Tarmac’s procurement director, said “We look to our network for breakthrough technologies which could improve our adoption of circular economy principles across the business, transforming the way we operate. We encourage anyone with an idea – however big or small – to get involved.”

Our 2023 Innovation Challenge deadline was extended into 2024 to enable more ideas to be submitted, with the hope that the sessions we held during our Supplier Sustainability Week might inspire more ideas.

Since launching the first innovation challenge in 2019, Tarmac has brought forward a range of ideas in partnership with suppliers, from reduced plastic packaging to the UK’s first all-electric concrete mixer, as well as totally new-to-market innovations.