Sustainability has become one of the main reasons utilities and municipalities specify CIPP. The trenchless rehabilitation method avoids the excavation, traffic management and material waste of dig-and-replace pipe rehabilitation, and the manufacturers behind it are increasingly expected to back that case with audited supply chain data. The Green Leaves Earth Champion Award 2025/26 has been presented to Insituform for measurable Scope 3 emissions reduction across the CIPP supply chain, with 232,000 kg CO₂e avoided through last year’s shipments and 3,650 mangroves planted in Madagascar on Insituform’s behalf. This is a repeat recognition.
Insituform Recognised Again For Measurable CIPP Sustainability
The Green Leaves Earth Champion Award is now in its fifth year. It is presented to clients who have made a measurable difference to their Scope 3 emissions, not as a future target but as a result already delivered through decisions built into how their supply chain operates. Insituform has received the recognition again in 2025/26, which confirms that the sustainability commitments running through how we manufacture, ship and install CIPP are producing year-on-year, audited carbon impact.
What Scope 3 Emissions Are And Why They Matter
Scope 3 covers the indirect greenhouse gas emissions sitting in a company’s wider value chain, including everything outside its own operations and direct energy use. For a CIPP manufacturer shipping specialist liner systems internationally, Scope 3 is dominated by logistics, transport and supplier emissions, which is where most of the real carbon footprint lives.
It is also the hardest scope to reduce, because most of the levers sit outside direct operational control. That is exactly why the Earth Champion Award measures Scope 3 reduction that has already happened rather than what’s been promised. For engineers and procurement leads evaluating CIPP suppliers on sustainability, this is the proof point that matters most.
The Numbers Behind The 2025 Award
In 2025, Insituform’s managed shipments covered 711,042 km, with 232,000 kg CO₂e avoided through how the shipping was planned, routed and carbon-managed. The carbon avoidance is backed by certified offset projects, including the Nansha Hydro Power Project in Yunnan Province, China, which displaces fossil fuel electricity generation and generates verified emission reductions under the Clean Development Mechanism.
These are not aspirational numbers. They are auditable totals, tied to real decisions made across real shipments over the course of the year.
3,650 Mangroves Planted In Madagascar On Insituform’s Behalf
Alongside the carbon avoidance, 3,650 trees have been planted on our behalf through Eden Reforestation Projects in Madagascar. The species is Rhizophora mucronata, the Red Mangrove. Each tree has a natural lifespan of around 50 years and a lifetime CO₂ removal capacity of up to 250,000 kg.
Mangroves are among the most effective carbon-capturing ecosystems on the planet. They also protect coastlines from erosion and storm damage, support biodiversity, and provide resources for the local communities that rely on them. Those 3,650 trees will be doing all of that work for decades, long after the 2025 shipments themselves are forgotten.
How Sustainability Is Built Into Our CIPP Manufacturing
Sustainability at Insituform is not an offset programme bolted to the side of the business. It runs through how we manufacture CIPP. Our flagship products incorporate 75% recycled material within our flagship products, and the trenchless installation method itself avoids the excavation, surface reinstatement, traffic disruption and material waste of dig-and-replace pipe rehabilitation. A single CIPP install can save hundreds of cubic metres of soil disturbance and thousands of vehicle movements compared with traditional methods.
That is sustainability built into the product, not bolted on at the end of the value chain.
What This Means For Engineers Specifying CIPP
ESG credentials are increasingly part of supplier evaluation on water, utility and municipal projects. Engineers and procurement leads need auditable, measurable proof that a CIPP supplier’s sustainability claims will stand up under scrutiny when the procurement process gets into the detail.
The Earth Champion Award sits alongside ISO 9001-certified manufacturing, 28 quality control checks for every single CIPP liner, 0% staff turnover except for retirement, and 75% recycled material within our flagship products, in a package of credentials a sustainable CIPP specification can reference.
Working With A CIPP Manufacturer That Takes Sustainability Seriously
Sustainability has shifted from a procurement preference to a procurement requirement on a growing share of UK and European water, utility and municipal projects. The CIPP manufacturers on the approved supplier lists in five years will be the ones building auditable, measurable carbon and circular-economy proof now, not the ones writing aspirational policy statements.
The Earth Champion Award 2025/26 sits alongside Insituform’s wider sustainability work and over 50 years of trenchless rehabilitation experience.
Read more about our sustainability commitment, explore our CIPP solutions, or speak to our technical team about embedding sustainability proof into your next specification.
