Dempsey Wood smash all records on Mutu
February 6, 2025
| Company | Dempsey Wood |
| Company size | 500+ |
| Industry | Civil / Earthworks |
| Website | dempseywood.co.nz |
| Focus | Material Reuse and Sustainability |
Dempsey Wood is one of New Zealand’s leading civil contractors, known for their expertise in infrastructure, earthworks, and land development. But beyond their technical excellence, they have a strong commitment to sustainability—actively seeking innovative ways to reduce waste, improve construction resource utilisation, and drive meaningful environmental impact.
That’s what made their partnership with Mutu a natural fit. In March 2024, Dempsey Wood joined Mutu’s resource-sharing platform to streamline material reuse across their projects, reduce procurement costs, and divert valuable resources from landfill. The results? Game-changing.
Key outcomes
- 170+ material exchanges between sites
- 5000+ construction components reused
- $253,000 saved in procurement
- 222 tonnes diverted from landfill
- $66,400 saved in disposal costs
Dempsey Wood has leveraged the Mutu paltform to facilitate more than 170 material exchanges between sites, ensuring that valuable construction resources stay in use rather than ending up as waste. Across their projects, they have successfully repurposed over 5000 individual construction components, ranging from pipes and kerbing blocks to manhole steps and tactile pavers. By maximising reuse at this scale, Dempsey Wood is improving construction resource utilisation across projects. They are not only achieving significant cost savings but also driving a more circular approach to construction, setting a new benchmark for resource efficiency in the industry.
Since onboarding with Mutu, Dempsey Wood has achieved staggering savings and environmental wins:
- $253,000 saved in procurement savings by repurposing surplus material reuse between their sites.
- 222 tonnes of materials diverted from landfill, keeping valuable resources in circulation.
- $66,400 saved in disposal costs, proving that sustainability isn’t just good for the planet—it’s good for the bottom line.
And their momentum is only growing. December 2024 and January 2025 saw record-breaking months, with over $60,000 in procurement savings in a single month—the biggest ever recorded on Mutu’s platform.
Dempsey Wood’s Environmental Manager, Lachlan Ward, highlighted just how transformative Mutu has been:
“We knew we needed a better way to manage surplus materials, but we never expected results like this. The savings have been phenomenal—not just in costs but in reducing waste and improving efficiency across all our projects. Mutu has completely transformed how we approach resource management.”
The feedback from their teams has been equally enthusiastic, with on-site staff finding the platform easy to use and highly effective in redistributing excess materials between projects as highlighted by Lachlan:
“Mutu is great at bridging the communication divide between site teams and, as an unintended consequence, has reduced the frequency of internal spam-type emails – requesting or offering items via global emails – which frees up our people to concentrate on building their jobs.”
Beyond cost savings and waste reduction, Mutu’s sustainability data is becoming a powerful tool for Dempsey Wood when bidding for new projects. With clear, trackable metrics on material reuse and landfill diversion, they can showcase their commitment to sustainable construction in tenders and project proposals. This data-driven approach not only strengthens their position with environmentally conscious clients but also aligns with increasing regulatory and compliance demands for sustainable building practices.
With such incredible results in less than a year, Dempsey Wood isn’t stopping here. They plan to:
- Expand Mutu’s use across even more projects, ensuring every possible resource is reused before new materials are purchased.
- Use Mutu’s data insights to refine procurement strategies and set new sustainability benchmarks.
- Work with suppliers and subcontractors to integrate Mutu into their supply chains, further embedding circular economy principles into the business.
Dempsey Wood’s commitment to sustainability and innovation is setting a new standard in the industry. Their partnership with Mutu proves that with the right tools, reducing waste and saving money go hand in hand.
Lachlan concludes with “Mutu has fundamentally changed the way we think about materials and waste in construction. What was once considered surplus is now seen as an opportunity—an opportunity to save money, reduce environmental impact, and build smarter. This is the future of sustainable construction, and we’re proud to be leading the way with Mutu.”
Interested in seeing how Mutu can drive the same results for your business? -> Get in touch!