MacRebur Case Study: Building a Sustainable Organization & Ideals

This report critically discusses the meaning and importance of sustainable innovation, using MacRebur as a case study. MacRebur, a UK-based company, transforms plastic waste into asphalt for road construction, demonstrating a commitment to environmental protection and cost-effective techniques. The report highlights the significance of sustainable innovation in cost reduction, eco-friendliness, CSR contribution, brand image enhancement, and resource conservation. It further explores how individuals can comply with sustainability ideals through energy conservation, using reusables, recycling, and adopting renewable energy sources. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of balancing present needs with future resource availability, advocating for the integration of sustainability into innovation practices.

BUILDING A
SUSTAINABLE
ORGANISATION 2

Table of Contents.
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Part A – Critically discuss the meaning and importance of sustainable innovation ...................3
Part B – How could I comply with the sustainabililty ideals? ....................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Sustainable innovation is a process where environmental, financial and social
considerations are sustainably included into a company's innovation system. The term is used in
a casual way in exchange of long-term continuous growth due to the innovation and respecting
the world's natural resources for future use (Cillo and et.al., 2019). Bio-bean firm is the example
which produce eco-friendly fuel to power buses in London from coffee waste. The case study
will critically explain the definition and significance of sustainable innovation of MacRebur
company which transformed the plastic waste into asphalt to pave thousands of miles of roads.
The quoted company has worked in the welfare of protecting the ecological environment as well
as applying unique ideas to earn high revenues while reducing the cost-effective techniques. The
project will further discuss how you can comply with the sustainability ideals examining your
current lifestyle. The report will end with a conclusion at last.
MAIN BODY
Part A – Critically discuss the meaning and importance of sustainable innovation
Innovation is an important element to build superior competiveness of a business in the
given marketplace. This can be done mostly by two methods i.e. either by cutting cost of the
product or by making better products than of competitors. However, the third method which is
being used by the businesses is using sustainable innovation strategy which create products with
keeping in mind the durability, efficiency, desirable features, material and low energy
consumption (Costa and Matias, 2020). Innovation which participate in reducing the
environmental problems or to use the resources in an effective and efficient manner so as to save
the resources for the future generations. This framework of using resources to create eco-friendly
products is known as sustainable innovation or eco-innovation. In other words, it refers to the
common usage of practices, strategies, ideas, concepts and products which is beneficial for the
fiscal viability, social cohesion and ecological balance. Contributing to sustainable well-being,
inclusive and systematic are three important characteristics of the sustainable innovation. World
Bank, UN, OECD and many international agencies has promoted to apply sustainable innovation
techniques by offering the subsidiaries to the company's. There are many examples of those
company's like BBC Earth, Celtic Renewables, Grow Bristol, Triodos Bank, Green Tomato Cars
etc. which are contributing by various strategies like hydrogen fuel, launching sustainable

fashion brand, producing fuel from whisky industry waste, modern farming through hydroponics
and vertical farming techniques. The report would discuss the sustainable innovation strategies
of British manufacturer MacRebur and its contribution towards saving the planet.
MacRebur, a UK based company which was founded in 2016 by McCartney having its
headquarter situated in Scotland. The founder was impressed with the method of filling potholes
by using crude method. He then impressed with that, made some improvisation in the method
and end up in forming a unique idea to make asphalt without using any fossil fuels (Conlon,
2022). The quoted firm had implanted techniques of using waste plastic material into building
roads by making asphalt. The given company mission is to solve the issue of waste plastic
epidemic and to increase the use of asphalt to pave road surfaces all over the world. The data
shows that with almost a kilometer of road constructed the equivalent weight of the number of
plastic bags at one time would be 740,541 pieces and around 80,000 plastic bottles are equivalent
to the 1 tonne of mix contains. The services to build plastic roads by the company is from
Aberdeenshire to Yorkshire in Uk and in the world from Australia to Bahrain. The use of
products could be seen on motorways, racetracks, roundabouts and even on airport runways. The
quoted firm also won the award for the innovation and the patents are being pending. The
international market of the firm is in US, Turkey, Slovakia, Australia & New Zealand and now
looking to expand in South Africa (Chernykh, 2021). The MR are working with local authorities
like Coventry Council, County Durham & Cumbria County Council for using local waste of
plastic to build the roads resulting in managing the waste problems as well as reducing the cost
of maintenance. They have huge number of UK's important contractors and construction firms
and still continuing & enhancing to connect with the new suppliers. Therefore, the importance
of sustainable innovation are as follows:
 Cost reduction: This is one of the biggest significance of sustainable innovation as it
reduces the cost of producing the products which the MR is doing by innovative
technique. It increases the productivity and profitability of the company while paving the
roads with the help of plastic waste (Ghobakhloo and et.al., 2021). The cost of
incorporating and processing the waste material into forming asphalt is comparably
available at lower cost.
 Eco-friendly: The another important of using innovative technique in a sustainable
manner is by saving the environment through using eco-friendly methods. Sustainable

innovation reduce the burden of protecting the ecology and making sure that it is the duty
of each and every individual living on this planet to contribute by preserving the
environment (Georgieva, 2018). Therefore, with these new ideas, the plastic waste could
be easily managed with the continuous development of the country.
 Contribution to CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the important strategy
which is being used most of the companies in today's world (Poussing, 2019).
Contribution in the protection of the ecology is the most challenging responsibility for the
big company's so they can incorporate subsidiary company having clear objective and
focus on preventing the environment at large. Thus, CSR could be done with the
sustainable innovation techniques.
 Brand image: Due to sustainable innovation idea, the reputation of the company could
be formed which helps to attract more consumer without promotional activities (Aguilar-
Fernández and Otegi-Olaso, 2018). Companies using sustainable products have better
brand image than its competitors which may result in the high revenue of the company.
 Increase the strength: This is another importance of the sustainable innovation which
increase the durability and strength of the roads which are being constructed by the
quoted company as the mixture was firstly tested for around 3 years and still had to pass
from laboratory tests.
 Connect consumers: Communicating and being connected with the consumer is another
significance of sustainable innovation. The quoted company work is used by all the
developed countries as well as developing countries which are planning to reduce their
country's carbon emission. Therefore, due to such positive steps being used by the MR
company, the big contruction enterprises and government contracts are being dealt by the
given firm.
 National and international support: This is the biggest strength and importance of the
sustainable innovation as due to the unique product the image of the product could be
witnessed all over the world (Sparrow, 2021). As every country is fighting to keep the
environment protected and if any product which prevent the ecology is launched in any
place then it would definitely used globally.
 Conserve resources: The most important aspect of the sustainable innovation is to
enhance the resources of the earth by gradually changing the developmental techniques

which help the nations to meet the basic requirements such as food, water, shelter,
energy, sanitation and employment to the public at large (Guo and et.al., 2020).
Therefore, this would encourage more countries and companies to work in the direction
of protecting our resources for future use.
 Prevent degradation of environment: Protecting the environment is an importance of
sustainable innovation as due to the technique of the quoted company the plastic waste of
the country could be managed and being optimum utilized to prevent the degradation of
the environment as plastic is one of the biggest reason for soil erosion. Therefore,
reducing plastic waste would work in the welfare of the planet.
Therefore, it is clear with the above essentials that sustainable innovation is a method
used by company's to develop a new or innovative product which is combined of development
and sustainability that goes hand-in-hand to ensure the resources are being conserved.
Part B – How could I comply with the sustainabililty ideals?
Continuous increase in the world's population is the biggest concern to the Earth. It is
said that by 2050, the counting number of individual's might reach upto 10 billion which would
directly impact the resources of the mother earth. Having limited resources for an uncountable
audience there is a need for an action plan to use these resources so as to save for our future
generations. It is clearly visible that due to scarcity of resources it led to the war between states.
To protect this we all need to use the resources in a sustainable manner and this action should be
applied at an individual level (Longo, Shankar and Nuttall, 2019). The term used for this strategy
is sustainable living which refers to the understanding of our own lifestyle and finding ways to
live better live by doing minor changes in our style of living. Sustainable living and lifestyle
together could achieve the Sustainable Development Goals setup by the UN. There are various
ways which could be embedded to change in my lifestyle so as to comply with the sustainability
ideals:
 Save energy: When I consider my lifestyle, I realised that there are number of energy
saving ways which I could adapt to reduce the carbon emissions, electricity and gas use.
I should switch off standby method for all electric appliances, draught proof windows,
turning offing unnessary lights, being careful with washing, avoiding dryer, being savvy
in using kitchen appliances and top up the insulation are some methods which I could
use to preserve energy (Hayward and Roy, 2019).

 Using reusables: I should use eco-friendly ways like reusable water bottle instead of
purchasing plastic bottles from canteen, using toilet paper spray, paper straws & bags,
rechargeable batteries, wax wraps in exchange of foil paper, bamboo toothbrush are
some techniques I can comply with.
 Be paperless: I should avoid wasting paper by opting projects in my college over
electronic medium instead of handwritten assignments. I could also reject paper receipts
received over shopping and accept it over emails.
 Recycle and reuse: To comply with sustainable ideals I should start implying reuse,
recycle and restore technique by making small changes in my household like including
glass jar container of coffee cans, converting old towels & cloths into cleaning rugs,
using plastic bags as trash bins etc. This all techniques could reduce cost as well as save
the resources.
 Use renewable energy: I have started complying the use of renewable energy ways so
as to reduce the carbon emissions and I would also consider electric vehicle while
purchasing my own car or bike. Till then I start emphasizing more on using my bi-cycle
which is good for my health as well as for the planet.
 Grow your own products: I should start growing my own vegetables and fruits without
using pesticides and promote the organic farming method which may also reduce the
water and air pollution (Echegaray, 2021).
 Buy ISO certified products: Before buying any product, everyone should check the
fairtrade certified mark. I was not aware about the certification before this project but
now as I am having the knowledge regarding the ISO certified which the companies
comply the guidelines before manufacturing the products which work in the prevention
or protection of environment.
CONCLUSION
The study has been concluded by explaining the meaning of sustainability by fulfilling
the the wants of the present using the natural resources without compromising the future
generation requirement to fulfill their needs from utilizing the natural resources. Many
companies has been achieved success by combining the sustainability with that of innovation.
The project has been summarised by critically describing the MacRebur company's sustainable
innovation which used local plastic waste material for constructing the roads in UK, Australia,

New Zealand, USA and in various international borders. The research has been described the
meaning of the sustainable innovation which is beneficial for the success of the business. Later,
it has been discussed the importance of the sustainable innovation with the help of quoted
company example. The study has been further examined my current lifestyle and how energy
saving, paperless usage, using R3 method, growing own vegetables & fruits and checking
fairtrade certified products had helped me to comply with the sustainability ideals.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Aguilar-Fernández, M. E. and Otegi-Olaso, J. R., 2018. Firm size and the business model for
sustainable innovation. Sustainability. 10(12). p.4785.
Chernykh, E., 2021. The Use of Environmentally Friendly Technologies in the Construction of
Road Surfaces, with the Aim of the Rational Distribution of Natural Resources in
Russia. Journal of Ecological Engineering. 22(11). pp.30-35.
Cillo, V. and et.al., 2019. Understanding sustainable innovation: A systematic literature
review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 26(5).
pp.1012-1025.
Conlon, K., 2022. Plastic roads: Not all they’re paved up to be. International Journal of
Sustainable Development & World Ecology. 29(1). pp.80-83.
Costa, J. and Matias, J. C., 2020. Open innovation 4.0 as an enhancer of sustainable innovation
ecosystems. Sustainability. 12(19). p.8112.
Echegaray, F., 2021. What POST-COVID-19 lifestyles may look like? Identifying scenarios and
their implications for sustainability. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 27.
pp.567-574.
Ghobakhloo, M. and et.al., 2021. Industry 4.0, innovation, and sustainable development: A
systematic review and a roadmap to sustainable innovation. Business Strategy and the
Environment. 30(8). pp.4237-4257.
Guo, R. and et.al., 2020. Classifying green technologies for sustainable innovation and
investment. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 153. p.104580.
Hayward, B. and Roy, J., 2019. Sustainable living: bridging the north-south divide in lifestyles
and consumption debates. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 44. pp.157-
175.
Longo, C., Shankar, A. and Nuttall, P., 2019. “It’s not easy living a sustainable lifestyle”: How
greater knowledge leads to dilemmas, tensions and paralysis. Journal of Business
Ethics. 154(3). pp.759-779.
Poussing, N., 2019. Does corporate social responsibility encourage sustainable innovation
adoption? E mpirical evidence from L uxembourg. Corporate Social Responsibility and
Environmental Management. 26(3). pp.681-689.
Online references
Georgieva, O., 2018. MacRebur – the innovative plastic road company [Online]. Available
through <https://www.themayor.eu/en/a/view/mac-rebur-the-innovative-plastic-road-
company-645>
Sparrow, N., 2021. Scotland’s MacRebur Brings Plastic Roads to US [Online]. Available
through <https://www.plasticstoday.com/automotive-and-mobility/scotlands-macrebur-
brings-plastic-roads-us>
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